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Accounts of an upcoming US-Russia leadership meeting have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Just days after Donald Trump announced he planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

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

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump informed reporters at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I'll see what transpires."

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs Washington empty-handed

The frequently changing summit is just the latest twist in Trump's efforts to broker an conclusion to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the American leader after he orchestrated a truce and prisoner exchange deal in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in the North African country recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

"It is essential to get the Russian situation done," he declared.

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success possible for the negotiation team may be challenging to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for almost four years.

Less Leverage

Per the lead negotiator, the key to achieving a agreement was Israel's move to strike representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but gave the president bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump gained from a history of siding with the Israeli state dating back to his initial presidency, including his choice to relocate the American embassy to the contested city, to alter US policy on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, in recent times, his support for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The American leader, actually, is more popular among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a position that provided him with special sway over the nation's head.

Combine Trump's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to secure an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, Trump has significantly reduced leverage. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between attempts to strong-arm Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has threatened to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to provide the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could harm the global economy and intensify the war.

At the same time, the president has publicly berated Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the nation - then to retreat in the face of worried European partners who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

The president often boasts about his skill to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to advance the hostilities any closer to a peaceful end.

The Russian president may in fact be exploiting the US leader's wish for a settlement – and faith in direct negotiations - as a method of manipulating him.

During the summer, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in Alaska just as it seemed probable that the president would approve on legislative penalties backed by Senate Republicans. That legislation was subsequently put on hold.

Last week, as reports spread that the White House was seriously contemplating sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the president of Russia called Trump who then touted the potential summit in Budapest.

The following day, Trump hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but left without agreements after a allegedly strained discussion.

The US leader insisted that he was not being manipulated by the Russian president.

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

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

"As soon as the matter of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

Thus, in a short period, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – including land Russia has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately decided on advocating a truce along current battle lines – something Russia has refused to accept.

During his election campaign last year, Trump promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has since discarded that pledge, saying that ending the hostilities is proving more difficult than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his power – and the challenge of finding a framework for peace when neither side desires, or can afford to, give up the fight.