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

Only a few days after President Trump said he intended to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

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

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," President Trump told the press at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a waste of time, so I will observe what happens."

• Donald Trump says he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after plan for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky departs White House without results

The on-again, off-again summit is another development in Trump's efforts to broker an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.

While making remarks in Egypt recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, the president addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

"It is essential to get Russia done," he said.

However, the conditions that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for the negotiation team may be difficult to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for almost several years.

Less Leverage

According to the lead negotiator, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's move to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered America's Arab allies but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a long record of siding with Israel dating back to his initial presidency, encompassing his decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, to alter US policy on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, in recent times, his support for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, actually, is better regarded among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a position that gave him special sway over the nation's head.

Add in the president's political and economic ties to key Arab players in the area, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to secure an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, Trump has significantly reduced leverage. In recent months, he has vacillated between attempts to pressure Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has threatened 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 doing so could harm the global economy and further escalate the war.

At the same time, the president has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing arms shipments to the nation - then to retreat in the wake of worried European partners who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

Trump loves to tout his ability to meet and hammer out deals, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the hostilities any closer to a peaceful end.

Putin may actually be using the US leader's wish for a deal – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a method of influencing him.

In July, Putin consented to a summit in Alaska at the time when it appeared likely that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package backed by GOP senators. That bill was subsequently delayed.

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

The following day, the president hosted Zelensky at the executive residence, but departed empty-handed after a reportedly strained discussion.

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

"As you are aware, I've been played throughout my career by the best of them, and I emerged really well," he remarked.

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

"Once the matter of advanced weaponry became a little further away for Ukraine – for Ukraine – Russia almost automatically became less engaged in diplomacy," he stated.

Thus, in a matter of days, Trump has shifted from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to Ukraine to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and confidentially pressuring Zelensky to surrender all of Donbas – even territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately decided on calling for a truce along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has rejected.

During his election campaign last year, the candidate vowed that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has since abandoned that pledge, saying that ending the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his authority – and the difficulty of finding a peace plan when both parties wants, or can afford to, give up the fight.