🔗 Share this article

Reports of an impending American-Russian leadership meeting have been overstated, it seems.

Just days after President Trump said he intended to confer with Russia's leader Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A initial get-together by the both countries' top diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump informed reporters 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 shelved
• Letdown in Kyiv as President Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The frequently changing summit is another twist in the president's attempts to broker an conclusion to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a truce and hostage release agreement in Gaza.

During a speech in Egypt recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump turned to Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

"We have to get the Russian situation done," he declared.

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for almost four years.

Less Leverage

Per the lead negotiator, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was Israel's move to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but gave the president bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president benefited from a long record of siding with the Israeli state dating back to his first term, including his choice to relocate the US embassy to the contested city, to change US policy on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his support for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, in fact, is more popular among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a position that provided him with unique influence over the nation's head.

Combine the president's connections in politics and business to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to force an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, Trump has significantly reduced influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has threatened to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could disrupt the global economy and further escalate the conflict.

Meanwhile, the president has criticized openly Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - only to then back off in the wake of concerned European allies who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the entire region.

The president often boasts about his skill to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the hostilities any nearer a peaceful end.

Putin may actually be using Trump's desire for a deal – and belief in direct negotiations - as a means of influencing him.

In July, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in Alaska at the time when it seemed probable that the president would sign off on legislative penalties supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was afterwards put on hold.

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating shipping long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the Russian leader called the US president who then touted the potential summit in Hungary.

The following day, Trump hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but departed without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

The US leader maintained that he was not being played by the Russian president.

"You know, I have been manipulated throughout my career by the best of them, and I emerged really well," he said.

But the president of Ukraine subsequently commented on the timeline of developments.

"As soon as the issue of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.

So, in a matter of days, the president has shifted from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to Ukraine to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and privately urging the Ukrainian president to cede the entire Donbas region – even land Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately settled on advocating a ceasefire along current battle lines – something Russia has rejected.

During his election campaign last year, Trump vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has subsequently abandoned that pledge, saying that concluding the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his authority – and the difficulty of establishing a framework for peace when neither side wants, or is able to, cease hostilities.