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Accounts of an impending American-Russian presidential summit have been overstated, it seems.

Just days after Donald Trump announced he intended to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary get-together by the two nations' leading diplomats has been called off, as well.

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I will observe what transpires."

• Trump states he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after plan for Putin talks shelved
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The frequently changing summit is another development in the president's efforts to broker an conclusion to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he arranged a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.

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

"It is essential to get Russia resolved," he declared.

Nonetheless, the conditions that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough possible for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for almost four years.

Reduced Influence

Per the lead negotiator, the crucial element to unlocking a agreement was the Israeli government's move to strike Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a action that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump leverage to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a history of supporting the Israeli state since his first term, encompassing his decision to move the American embassy to the contested city, to alter US policy on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, more recently, his support for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, in fact, is better regarded among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a position that gave him unique influence over the Israeli leader.

Add in the president's connections in politics and business to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to force an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has much less influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between attempts to pressure the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has warned to impose additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could disrupt the world's financial stability and intensify the war.

At the same time, the US leader has criticized openly Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - then to retreat in the wake of worried European partners who caution a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the whole area.

Trump 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 war any nearer a peaceful end.

The Russian president may actually be using Trump's desire for a settlement – and belief in direct negotiations - as a means of influencing him.

In July, Russia's leader consented to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that the president would sign off on legislative penalties backed by GOP senators. That bill was afterwards delayed.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was seriously contemplating shipping long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the president of Russia phoned Trump who then promoted the potential summit in Budapest.

The next day, the president welcomed Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but departed empty-handed after a reportedly tense meeting.

The US leader maintained that he was not being played by Putin.

"You know, I've been played throughout my career by skilled operators, and I emerged really well," he remarked.

However the president of Ukraine subsequently commented on the sequence of events.

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a less accessible for us – for our nation – Russia almost automatically became less engaged in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender all of Donbas – even territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on calling for a ceasefire along present frontlines – something Russia has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, the candidate vowed that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently abandoned that commitment, admitting that ending the hostilities is turning out harder than he anticipated.

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