🔗 Share this article

Accounts of an impending US-Russia leadership meeting have been overstated, apparently.

Just days after Donald Trump announced he intended to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

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

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I'll see what transpires."

• Trump states he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after plan for Putin talks shelved
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky departs White House without results

The on-again, off-again meeting is another twist in the president's efforts to mediate an conclusion to hostilities in Ukraine – a subject of increased attention for the US president after he orchestrated a truce and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in Egypt recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, the president turned to Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

"It is essential to get the Russian situation done," he said.

However, the conditions that aligned to make a Middle East success achievable for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for nearing several years.

Less Leverage

Per Witkoff, the key to achieving a deal was Israel's decision to strike Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered America's Arab allies but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump gained from a long record of supporting Israel dating back to his first term, encompassing his decision to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, to change US policy on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, in recent times, his backing 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 special sway over the Israeli leader.

Combine the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to secure an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, Trump has significantly reduced influence. In recent months, he has swung between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has warned to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could disrupt the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

At the same time, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and pausing arms shipments to the nation - then to back off in the wake of concerned European allies who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the entire region.

Trump loves to tout his skill to meet and negotiate agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the war any closer to a peaceful end.

The Russian president may actually be exploiting Trump's desire for a deal – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a means of influencing him.

In July, Putin consented to a summit in Alaska just as it seemed probable that Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was afterwards delayed.

Recently, as reports spread that the US administration was seriously contemplating shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the president of Russia called the US president who then promoted the possible summit in Hungary.

The following day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the White House, but left without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

Trump maintained that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

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

However the Ukrainian leader later commented on the timeline of developments.

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a less accessible for us – for Ukraine – Russia almost automatically became less interested in negotiations," he said.

Thus, in a matter of days, Trump has shifted from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Putin and confidentially urging Zelensky to surrender all of Donbas – including territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately settled on advocating a ceasefire along present frontlines – something Russia has rejected.

During his election campaign previously, the candidate promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that pledge, saying that ending the war is proving more difficult 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 both parties desires, or is able to, give up the fight.