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Reports of an impending US-Russia leadership meeting have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Just days after Donald Trump announced he planned to confer with Russia's leader Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary get-together by the two nations' top diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump told the press at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I will observe what happens."

• Trump says he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after plan for Putin talks postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky leaves Washington without results

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest development in the president's attempts to broker an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a truce and prisoner exchange deal in Gaza.

While making remarks in the North African country last week to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, the president addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

"We have to get the Russian situation done," he said.

Nonetheless, the conditions that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for almost several years.

Reduced Influence

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to unlocking a agreement was Israel's move to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that infuriated America's Arab allies but gave the president bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a long record of siding with the Israeli state dating back to his first term, encompassing his choice to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, to alter US policy on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, in recent times, his backing for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, actually, is more popular among Israelis than their prime minister – a situation that gave him special sway over the Israeli leader.

Combine the president's connections in politics and business to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to force an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, Trump has significantly reduced leverage. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between efforts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has warned to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the war.

At the same time, the US leader has publicly berated Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and suspending weapon deliveries to the nation - only to then retreat in the wake of worried European partners who caution a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the entire region.

The president loves to tout his skill to sit down and negotiate deals, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to advance the war any closer to a resolution.

Putin may actually be exploiting Trump's desire for a settlement – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a method of manipulating him.

In July, Putin consented to a high-level meeting in Alaska just as it seemed probable that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by GOP senators. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Last week, as reports spread that the White House was considering seriously shipping long-range missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then touted the possible summit in Hungary.

The next day, the president hosted Zelensky at the executive residence, but left without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

The US leader maintained that he was not being played by Putin.

"As you are aware, I've been played throughout my career by the best of them, and I came out really well," he remarked.

However the Ukrainian leader subsequently made note of the sequence of events.

"As soon as the matter of advanced weaponry became a little further away for us – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he stated.

Thus, in a short period, the president has shifted from considering the idea of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and confidentially urging Zelensky to cede the entire Donbas region – even territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on advocating a truce along current battle lines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

During his election campaign previously, Trump promised that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that pledge, admitting that ending the hostilities is turning out harder than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his authority – and the challenge of finding a peace plan when both parties wants, or is able to, cease hostilities.