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Reports of an upcoming US-Russia presidential summit have been overstated, apparently.

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

A initial meeting by the both countries' leading diplomats has been called off, as well.

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

• Trump says he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The frequently changing summit is another twist in the president's efforts to mediate an end to war in Ukraine – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a truce and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

During a speech in Egypt recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, the president turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

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

However, the conditions that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for almost four years.

Reduced Influence

According to the lead negotiator, the key to achieving a deal was Israel's move to attack representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided the president leverage to pressure Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump benefited from a long record of supporting Israel dating back to his initial presidency, encompassing his choice to move the US embassy to the contested city, to change US policy on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The American leader, actually, is better regarded among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that gave him special sway over the nation's head.

Add in the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to force an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, the president has much less leverage. In recent months, he has vacillated between efforts to strong-arm the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has threatened to enact new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could disrupt the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

At the same time, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the nation - only to then back off in the wake of concerned European allies who warn a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the whole area.

Trump often boasts about his skill to sit down and hammer out deals, 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 using the US leader's wish for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a method of manipulating him.

During the summer, Russia's leader consented to a summit in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that the president would sign off on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That legislation was subsequently put on hold.

Last week, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the president of Russia phoned the US president who then touted the potential summit in Budapest.

The next day, the president hosted Zelensky at the executive residence, but departed without agreements after a allegedly strained discussion.

The US leader insisted that he was not being played by Putin.

"You know, I have been manipulated throughout my career by skilled operators, and I emerged successfully," he said.

However the Ukrainian leader later made note of the timeline of developments.

"Once the matter of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for us – for our nation – Russia almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy," he said.

So, 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 confidentially pressuring Zelensky to cede the entire Donbas region – including territory Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately settled on advocating a ceasefire along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, the candidate promised that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has since discarded that pledge, saying that ending the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his authority – and the challenge of establishing a peace plan when both parties wants, or can afford to, cease hostilities.