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Accounts of an impending American-Russian presidential meeting have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Only a few days after President Trump announced he intended to confer with Russian President Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

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

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump informed the press at the White House on a recent weekday. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I will observe what transpires."

• Donald Trump says he did not want a 'unproductive session' after plan for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves Washington empty-handed

The frequently changing meeting is another twist in Trump's attempts to mediate an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the American leader after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

During a speech in Egypt last week to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

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

Nonetheless, the conditions that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for nearing four years.

Reduced Influence

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a deal was Israel's move to attack Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a action that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but gave Trump bargaining power to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president gained from a long record of supporting the Israeli state since his initial presidency, encompassing his choice to move the US embassy to the contested city, to alter US policy on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his backing for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, actually, is more popular among Israelis than their prime minister – a position that provided him with unique influence over the Israeli leader.

Add in the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to secure 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.

The US leader has warned to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to provide the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could disrupt the global economy and intensify the war.

At the same time, the president has criticized openly Zelensky, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and suspending arms shipments to the nation - then to back off in the face of concerned European allies who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

Trump often boasts about his ability to meet and hammer out deals, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to advance the war any closer to a peaceful end.

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

In July, Russia's leader 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 legislation was afterwards delayed.

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the Russian leader called the US president who then promoted the potential meeting in Budapest.

The next day, Trump hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but left empty-handed after a allegedly tense meeting.

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

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated all my life by skilled operators, and I came out successfully," he said.

But the president of Ukraine later commented on the timeline of developments.

"As soon as the matter of long-range mobility became a little further away for us – for our nation – Russia quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he stated.

Thus, in a matter of days, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to planning a meeting in Hungary with Putin and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender all of Donbas – including territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on advocating a truce along present frontlines – something the Russian government has rejected.

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has since abandoned that pledge, saying that ending the war is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his authority – and the difficulty of finding a framework for peace when both parties desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.