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

Only a few days after President Trump announced he intended to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary meeting by the both countries' leading diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump told the press at the White House on a recent weekday. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I'll see what transpires."

• Donald Trump says he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky leaves Washington without results

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest twist in the president's attempts to broker an end to hostilities in Ukraine – a topic of renewed focus for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

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

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough possible for the negotiation team may be difficult to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for nearing four years.

Reduced Influence

Per the lead negotiator, the key to unlocking a agreement was Israel's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided the president bargaining power to compel Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president gained from a long record of supporting the Israeli state dating back to his first term, encompassing 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, more recently, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, in fact, is better regarded among the Israeli public than their prime minister – a situation that provided him with unique influence over the Israeli leader.

Combine the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to secure an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, Trump has much less influence. Over the past nine months, he has swung between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has warned to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to supply the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could harm the global economy and intensify the war.

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

Trump loves to tout his ability to sit down and negotiate deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the war any closer to a resolution.

Putin may actually be exploiting Trump's desire for a settlement – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a method of influencing him.

In July, Russia's leader consented to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that Trump would sign off on congressional sanctions package backed by GOP senators. That legislation was afterwards put on hold.

Last week, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned Trump who then promoted the potential meeting in Hungary.

The next day, the president hosted Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed empty-handed after a reportedly tense meeting.

Trump insisted that he was not being played by the Russian president.

"You know, I've been played all my life by the best of them, and I came out really well," he remarked.

However the Ukrainian leader later 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 – Russia almost automatically became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

Thus, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Putin and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to cede all of Donbas – even land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately decided on advocating a ceasefire along present frontlines – a proposal Russia has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that commitment, saying that concluding the hostilities is proving more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the difficulty of establishing a peace plan when both parties desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.