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Reports of an impending American-Russian presidential summit have been overstated, apparently.

Just days after Donald Trump said he planned to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary meeting by the both countries' leading diplomats has been called off, too.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," President Trump told the press at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I'll see what happens."

• Donald Trump states he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky departs Washington empty-handed

The frequently changing meeting is another development in Trump's attempts to broker an conclusion to war 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.

During a speech in the North African country recently to commemorate that truce deal, Trump addressed Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

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

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

Less Leverage

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a deal was Israel's move to attack Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated America's Arab allies but gave Trump bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president benefited from a history of supporting Israel since his first term, encompassing his choice to move the American embassy to the contested city, to alter America's position on the legality of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, in recent times, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, in fact, is better regarded among Israelis than their prime minister – a position that provided him with unique influence over the nation's head.

Add in the president's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the region, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to force an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced influence. In recent months, he has swung between efforts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has threatened to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that such actions could disrupt the world's financial stability and intensify the war.

Meanwhile, the president has criticized openly Ukraine's president, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the country - only to then retreat in the wake of worried European partners who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the entire region.

The president loves to tout his ability to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to move the hostilities any nearer a resolution.

Putin may in fact be using Trump's desire for a settlement – and belief in direct negotiations - as a means of influencing him.

During the summer, Putin agreed to a summit in the US state at the time when it seemed probable that Trump would sign off on congressional sanctions package supported by GOP senators. That legislation was afterwards put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then promoted the possible meeting in Budapest.

The next day, Trump hosted Zelensky at the White House, but left without agreements after a allegedly strained discussion.

Trump maintained that he was not being played by the Russian president.

"As you are aware, I've been played throughout my career by skilled operators, and I emerged really well," he remarked.

But the Ukrainian leader subsequently commented on the timeline of developments.

"Once the matter of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for us – for Ukraine – the Russian side quickly became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

Thus, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to Ukraine to planning a Budapest summit with Putin and confidentially pressuring Zelensky to cede all of Donbas – even land Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on calling for a truce along present frontlines – a proposal Russia has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has since discarded that pledge, admitting that ending the war is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his power – and the challenge of establishing a peace plan when both parties desires, or can afford to, give up the fight.