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Reports of an upcoming American-Russian presidential meeting have been overstated, it seems.

Just days after Donald Trump said he planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

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 told the press at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I will observe what transpires."

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after plan for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The on-again, off-again meeting is another twist in Trump's attempts to mediate an conclusion to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of increased attention for the American leader after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

While making remarks in the North African country recently to celebrate that truce deal, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success possible for the negotiation team may be challenging to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for almost four years.

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the key to achieving a deal was the Israeli government's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that angered America's Arab allies but gave Trump leverage to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a history of supporting the Israeli state since his initial presidency, 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 support for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, actually, is better regarded among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a situation that gave him special sway over the Israeli leader.

Combine the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, Trump has significantly reduced leverage. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to enact new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that such actions could harm the global economy and intensify the conflict.

At the same time, the US leader has publicly berated Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - then to retreat in the face of worried European partners who warn a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the whole area.

The president loves to tout his ability to meet and negotiate agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to advance the hostilities any nearer a resolution.

The Russian president may actually be exploiting the US leader's wish for a deal – and faith in direct negotiations - as a method of manipulating him.

During the summer, Putin consented to a high-level meeting in Alaska at the time when it appeared likely that Trump would sign off on legislative penalties backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Last week, as reports spread that the White House was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then promoted the possible meeting in Hungary.

The following day, the president hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but departed without agreements after a allegedly strained discussion.

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

"You know, I've been played throughout my career by the best of them, and I emerged really well," he said.

But the Ukrainian leader later made note of the timeline of developments.

"Once the matter of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for Ukraine – for our nation – Russia almost automatically became less engaged 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 meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – even land Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has finally decided on advocating a ceasefire along current battle lines – a proposal Russia has rejected.

On the campaign trail last year, the candidate vowed that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has subsequently discarded that pledge, admitting that ending the war is turning out harder than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his authority – and the challenge of establishing a framework for peace when neither side desires, or is able to, give up the fight.