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

Just days after President Trump announced he intended to meet Russian President Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A initial get-together by the both countries' leading diplomats has been called off, too.

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump told the press at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I will observe what transpires."

• Donald Trump says he did not want a 'unproductive session' after plan for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs White House without results

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest development in the president's efforts to broker an conclusion to hostilities in Ukraine – a topic of renewed focus for the US president after he arranged a truce and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

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

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

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

Less Leverage

According to Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a deal was Israel's decision to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a move that infuriated America's Arab allies but gave the president bargaining power to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president benefited from a history of siding with Israel since his first term, encompassing his choice to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the legality of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The American leader, actually, is more popular among Israelis than their prime minister – a situation that gave him unique influence over the nation's head.

Combine Trump's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the region, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to force an deal.

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

The US leader has warned to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to supply the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the war.

At the same time, the president has publicly berated Zelensky, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - only to then retreat in the wake of worried European partners who warn a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the whole area.

The president often boasts about his skill to sit down and negotiate agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to advance the hostilities any closer to a peaceful end.

Putin may in fact be using Trump's desire for a settlement – and faith in direct negotiations - as a means of influencing him.

In July, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in the US state just as it appeared likely that the president would sign off on legislative penalties backed by GOP senators. That bill was afterwards delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the US administration was seriously contemplating shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the president of Russia phoned the US president who then promoted the possible summit in Hungary.

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

Trump insisted 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 Ukrainian leader later made note of 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 said.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to Ukraine to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and confidentially urging Zelensky to surrender all of Donbas – including territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

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

During his election campaign previously, Trump promised that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently abandoned that pledge, saying that ending the hostilities is proving more difficult than he anticipated.

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