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Accounts of an impending American-Russian presidential summit have been overstated, it seems.

Only a few days after Donald Trump announced he intended to confer with Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A initial get-together by the both countries' top 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."

• Trump says he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Letdown in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs Washington without results

The on-again, off-again meeting is another twist in the president's efforts to broker an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in Egypt last week to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, the president turned to Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

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

Less Leverage

According to the lead negotiator, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was the Israeli government's decision to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a move that infuriated America's Arab allies but provided the president leverage to pressure Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a long record of supporting Israel since his first term, including his choice to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, to change US policy on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his backing for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, in fact, is more popular among Israelis than their prime minister – a position that provided him with special sway over the Israeli leader.

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

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, the president has much less leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between attempts to pressure the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has threatened to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and intensify the war.

At the same time, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, halting briefly information exchange with the country and suspending arms shipments to the country - then to back off in the face of worried European partners who caution a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the entire region.

Trump loves to tout his ability to sit down and negotiate agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the war any nearer a resolution.

Putin may actually be using the US leader's wish for a deal – and faith in in-person deal-making - 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 Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the US administration was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned Trump who then promoted the possible summit in Hungary.

The following day, Trump hosted Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed empty-handed after a reportedly strained discussion.

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

"You know, I've been played all my life by skilled operators, and I came out successfully," he remarked.

However the Ukrainian leader subsequently commented on the sequence of events.

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a little further away for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less interested in negotiations," he said.

So, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from considering the idea of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to planning a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately urging Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – even territory Russia has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately settled on advocating a ceasefire along present frontlines – something the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, the candidate promised that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has since discarded that commitment, saying that ending the hostilities is proving more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his power – and the difficulty of establishing a framework for peace when both parties wants, or can afford to, cease hostilities.