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Accounts of an upcoming US-Russia leadership summit have been overstated, apparently.

Only a few days after President Trump said he intended to meet Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

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

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump informed reporters at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I will observe what transpires."

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

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest twist in the president's efforts to mediate an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of renewed focus for the American leader after he arranged a truce and hostage release deal in Gaza.

During a speech in the North African country recently to commemorate that truce deal, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

"It is essential to get the Russian situation resolved," he declared.

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for the negotiation team may be challenging to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for nearing several years.

Less Leverage

According to the lead negotiator, the key to achieving a deal was the Israeli government's move to strike Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered America's Arab allies but gave Trump bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president gained from a long record of siding with the Israeli state since his first term, encompassing his decision to move the US embassy to the contested city, to change US policy on the legality of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, in recent times, his backing for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, in fact, is better regarded among Israelis than their prime minister – a situation that provided him with special sway over the Israeli leader.

Add in the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to force an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has much less influence. Over the past nine months, he has swung between efforts to strong-arm the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has threatened to impose additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that such actions could disrupt the global economy and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the president has criticized openly Zelensky, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - then to back off in the face of worried European partners who warn a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the whole area.

The president often boasts about his ability to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to advance the war any closer to a resolution.

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

In July, Putin agreed to a high-level meeting in Alaska just as it appeared likely that the president would sign off on congressional sanctions package backed by GOP senators. That bill was afterwards put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was seriously contemplating sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader called Trump who then promoted the possible summit in Budapest.

The following day, the president welcomed Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

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

"You know, I've been played all my life by skilled operators, and I came out really well," he remarked.

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

"As soon as the matter of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for us – for Ukraine – Russia almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy," he stated.

Thus, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from considering the idea of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to planning a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and confidentially urging the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – even territory Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on advocating a ceasefire along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has since discarded that pledge, admitting that ending the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his authority – and the difficulty of establishing a peace plan when both parties desires, or is able to, cease hostilities.