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Accounts of an upcoming US-Russia presidential meeting have been overstated, it seems.

Only a few days after Donald Trump announced he planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A initial meeting by the two nations' top diplomats has been called off, as well.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," President Trump told reporters at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I don't want a waste of time, so I will observe what happens."

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky leaves Washington without results

The on-again, off-again meeting is another development in the president's attempts to broker an end to hostilities in Ukraine – a topic of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country recently to commemorate that truce deal, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

"We have to get the Russian situation resolved," he said.

Nonetheless, the conditions that aligned to make a Middle East success achievable for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for almost several years.

Less Leverage

According to the lead negotiator, the key to achieving a deal was Israel's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated America's Arab allies but gave Trump bargaining power to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president benefited from a long record of supporting the Israeli state since his initial presidency, encompassing his decision to move the American embassy to the contested city, to change US policy on the legality of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, in recent times, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The American leader, in fact, is better regarded among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a situation that provided him with special sway over the Israeli leader.

Combine the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to force an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, Trump has much less leverage. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between attempts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has threatened to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to supply the Ukrainian forces 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.

At the same time, the US leader has criticized openly Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and pausing arms shipments to the country - only to then back off in the face of concerned European allies who warn a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the entire region.

The president often boasts about his skill to meet and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to move the war any nearer a resolution.

The Russian president may in fact be using Trump's desire for a deal – and faith in direct negotiations - as a method of manipulating him.

During the summer, Russia's leader consented to a high-level meeting in Alaska just as it seemed probable that Trump would sign off on congressional sanctions package backed by GOP senators. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then promoted the potential summit in Hungary.

The next day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the White House, but departed empty-handed after a reportedly tense meeting.

Trump maintained that he was not being played by Putin.

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

However the Ukrainian leader subsequently commented on the timeline of developments.

"As soon as the matter of advanced weaponry became a little further away for Ukraine – for Ukraine – Russia quickly became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

Thus, in a short period, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of sending missiles to Ukraine to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Putin and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – even land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

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

During his election campaign previously, Trump promised that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has since discarded that pledge, admitting that ending the hostilities is proving more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his authority – and the challenge of establishing a framework for peace when both parties desires, or can afford to, give up the fight.