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Reports of an upcoming US-Russia presidential summit have been overstated, it seems.

Only a few days after President Trump announced he intended to confer with Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary meeting by the both countries' leading diplomats has been called off, 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 pointless effort, so I'll see what happens."

• Trump states he did not want a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky departs White House without results

The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest development in the president's efforts to mediate 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 the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country last week to commemorate that truce deal, Trump addressed Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

"It is essential to get Russia done," 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 raging for almost four years.

Less Leverage

According to Witkoff, the crucial element to unlocking 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 leverage to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president gained from a history of siding with Israel dating back to his initial presidency, encompassing his choice to move the US embassy to the contested city, to alter 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, actually, is more popular among the Israeli public than their prime minister – a situation that provided him with unique influence over the nation's head.

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 significantly reduced influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has threatened to enact new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

Meanwhile, the president has publicly berated Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the country - only to then back off in the face of worried European partners who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

Trump often boasts about his ability to sit down and negotiate deals, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to move the hostilities any nearer a peaceful end.

The Russian president may actually be exploiting the US leader's wish for a settlement – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a method of influencing him.

In July, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in Alaska at the time when it seemed probable that Trump would sign off on legislative penalties backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

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 called the US president who then promoted the potential meeting in Budapest.

The next day, the president welcomed Zelensky 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.

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

But the Ukrainian leader later commented on the sequence of events.

"Once the issue of long-range mobility became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

Thus, in a short period, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to Ukraine to planning a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and confidentially pressuring Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – including territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

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

On the campaign trail last year, Trump promised that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has subsequently abandoned that pledge, saying that concluding the war is proving more difficult than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his power – and the difficulty of finding a peace plan when neither side desires, or is able to, give up the fight.