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Reports of an upcoming US-Russia presidential meeting have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

Just days after Donald Trump announced he planned to meet Russia's leader Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

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

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," President Trump informed reporters at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I will observe what happens."

• Trump says he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after plan for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Letdown in Kyiv as Zelensky departs Washington empty-handed

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest twist in Trump's attempts to mediate an conclusion to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.

While making remarks in the North African country recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

"We have to get Russia done," he declared.

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

Reduced Influence

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's move to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a move that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump leverage to compel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a history of siding with the Israeli state since his initial presidency, including his choice to relocate the American embassy to the contested city, to change America's position on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, in fact, is more popular among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a position that provided him with special sway over the Israeli leader.

Add in the president's political and economic ties to key Arab players in the area, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to secure an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced leverage. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between attempts to pressure Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

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

Meanwhile, the president has criticized openly Zelensky, halting briefly information exchange with the country and pausing weapon deliveries to the nation - then to retreat in the face of worried European partners who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

Trump loves to tout his ability to sit down and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to move the war any nearer a resolution.

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

In July, Putin agreed 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 afterwards put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was seriously contemplating shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the president of Russia called the US president who then touted the possible meeting in Budapest.

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

Trump maintained that he was not being played by Putin.

"You know, I've been played all my life by the best of them, and I emerged successfully," he remarked.

However the Ukrainian leader later commented on the sequence of events.

"As soon as the issue of long-range mobility became a less accessible for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less interested in diplomacy," he stated.

So, in a short period, the president has shifted from considering the idea of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and confidentially pressuring the Ukrainian president to cede all of Donbas – even land Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on calling for a truce along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

During his election campaign previously, Trump vowed that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has subsequently discarded that commitment, admitting that ending the war is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his authority – and the challenge of establishing a framework for peace when both parties wants, or can afford to, cease hostilities.