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Accounts of an impending American-Russian presidential summit have been overstated, it seems.

Just days after Donald Trump announced he planned to confer with Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A initial get-together by the both countries' top diplomats has been called off, as well.

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump told the press at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I'll see what happens."

• Trump says he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after plan for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky leaves Washington without results

The on-again, off-again summit is another development in the president's attempts to mediate an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in Gaza.

While making remarks in Egypt recently to commemorate that truce deal, the president turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

"It is essential to get Russia done," he said.

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for almost several years.

Less Leverage

Per the lead negotiator, the crucial element to achieving a deal was Israel's decision to attack representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that infuriated America's Arab allies but provided Trump bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump benefited from a history of siding with Israel dating back to his first term, encompassing his choice to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, to alter US policy on the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his backing for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, actually, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a position that gave him unique influence over the Israeli leader.

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

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has much less leverage. In recent months, he has swung between attempts to pressure Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has warned to impose new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could disrupt the global economy and intensify the war.

Meanwhile, the US leader has publicly berated Zelensky, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with the country and suspending arms shipments to the nation - then to retreat in the wake of concerned European allies who warn a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the whole area.

The president often boasts about his skill to sit down and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to advance the hostilities any closer to a peaceful end.

Putin may actually be using the US leader's wish for a deal – and belief in direct negotiations - as a method of influencing him.

During the summer, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in Alaska just as it appeared likely that Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was afterwards delayed.

Last week, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the president of Russia called the US president who then touted the potential summit in Budapest.

The next day, Trump welcomed Zelensky at the executive residence, but left without agreements after a allegedly strained discussion.

Trump 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.

But the president of Ukraine later made note of the sequence of events.

"As soon as the matter of advanced weaponry became a little further away for Ukraine – for Ukraine – the Russian side almost automatically became less engaged in diplomacy," he stated.

Thus, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to Ukraine to planning a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and confidentially urging Zelensky to cede the entire Donbas region – including land Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately decided on calling for a ceasefire along present frontlines – something the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate promised that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has subsequently abandoned that pledge, admitting that concluding the hostilities is turning out harder than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the challenge of finding a framework for peace when both parties wants, or can afford to, give up the fight.