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Reports of an impending US-Russia presidential meeting have been overstated, apparently.

Just days after President Trump announced he intended to confer with Russian President Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks 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," President Trump informed the press at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I will observe what transpires."

• Trump states he did not want a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky departs Washington empty-handed

The on-again, off-again summit is another development in Trump's efforts to mediate an conclusion to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of renewed focus for the American leader after he arranged a truce and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in the North African country recently to commemorate that truce deal, Trump turned to Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

However, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for the negotiation team may be challenging to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for almost several years.

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the key to achieving a deal was Israel's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a action that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump leverage to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a long record of supporting the Israeli state dating back to his initial presidency, encompassing his decision to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, to change US policy on the legality of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his support for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The American leader, in fact, is better regarded among Israelis than their prime minister – a position that gave him unique influence over the nation's head.

Combine the president's connections in politics and business to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to secure an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, the president has much less influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between attempts to strong-arm the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has threatened to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to supply Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has publicly berated Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing arms shipments to the country - only to then back off in the wake of worried European partners who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

The president often boasts about his ability to sit down and hammer out deals, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to move the war any closer to a peaceful end.

The Russian president may in fact be using Trump's desire for a deal – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a means of manipulating him.

During the summer, Putin agreed to a high-level meeting in the US state just as it appeared likely that Trump would approve on legislative penalties backed by GOP senators. That legislation was subsequently put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was considering seriously sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned Trump who then touted the potential summit in Budapest.

The following day, the president hosted Zelensky at the executive residence, but departed empty-handed after a reportedly tense meeting.

The US leader maintained that he was not being played by the Russian president.

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

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

"As soon as the issue of long-range mobility became a less accessible for us – for Ukraine – Russia almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, the president has shifted from considering the idea of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to planning a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to surrender all of Donbas – including territory Russia has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately settled on advocating a truce along present frontlines – something Russia has rejected.

During his election campaign previously, the candidate 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 proving more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his authority – and the difficulty of finding a peace plan when neither side desires, or is able to, cease hostilities.