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Accounts of an upcoming American-Russian leadership meeting have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

Just days after President Trump announced he intended to meet Russia's leader Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary meeting by the two nations' top diplomats has been called off, too.

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump informed the press at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a waste of time, so I'll see what transpires."

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after plan for Putin talks postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky departs Washington empty-handed

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest twist in Trump's efforts to mediate an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of renewed focus for the American leader after he arranged a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in Gaza.

While making remarks in the North African country last week to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success possible for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for nearing four years.

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the key to unlocking a deal was the Israeli government's decision to strike representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered America's Arab allies but gave Trump leverage to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a history of siding with Israel since his first term, including his choice to move the US embassy to the contested city, to alter US policy on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the occupied territories 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 their prime minister – a position that gave him unique influence over the Israeli leader.

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 secure an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has much less leverage. In recent months, he has swung between attempts to strong-arm Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has warned to impose new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that doing so could disrupt the global economy and further escalate the conflict.

At the same time, the US leader has publicly berated Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and pausing arms shipments to the country - only to then back off in the wake of concerned European allies who caution a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

The president loves to tout his ability to sit down and negotiate deals, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to advance the hostilities any nearer a resolution.

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

In July, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in the US state just as it seemed probable that Trump would sign off on congressional sanctions package backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was afterwards put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the US administration was seriously contemplating shipping long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the president of Russia phoned Trump who then promoted the possible meeting in Budapest.

The next day, Trump hosted Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

Trump insisted that he was not being played by Putin.

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated throughout my career by skilled operators, and I came out successfully," he remarked.

However the president of Ukraine subsequently made note of the timeline of developments.

"As soon as the matter of long-range mobility became a less accessible for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy," he said.

So, in a short period, the president has shifted from considering the idea of sending missiles to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender all of Donbas – even land Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on advocating a truce along current battle lines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

During his election campaign previously, Trump vowed that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has subsequently abandoned that pledge, saying that concluding the war is turning out more difficult than he expected.

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