🔗 Share this article

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

Only a few days after President Trump said he intended to meet Russian President Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A initial get-together by the two nations' top diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump informed the press at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I will observe what transpires."

• Donald Trump says he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Kyiv as Zelensky departs Washington without results

The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest development in Trump's efforts to broker an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the US president after he orchestrated a truce and prisoner exchange deal in Gaza.

While making remarks in Egypt last week to celebrate that truce deal, Trump addressed Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

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

However, the circumstances that converged to make a Middle East success possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for almost several years.

Reduced Influence

According to the lead negotiator, the key to achieving a agreement was Israel's move to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated America's Arab allies but gave the president bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump benefited from a history of siding with the Israeli state dating back to his first term, including his decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, to change America's position on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, more recently, his support for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, actually, is more popular among the Israeli public than their prime minister – a position that gave him special sway over the Israeli leader.

Combine Trump's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the region, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to force an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, Trump has much less leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between attempts to pressure Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has threatened 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 such actions could harm the world's financial stability and intensify the conflict.

At the same time, the president has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the nation - only to then retreat in the wake of concerned European allies who caution a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

Trump loves to tout his ability to sit down and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the hostilities any closer to a peaceful end.

Putin may in fact be using Trump's desire for a settlement – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a method of manipulating him.

In July, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in Alaska at the time when it appeared likely that Trump would approve on legislative penalties backed by Senate Republicans. That legislation was afterwards put on hold.

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the president of Russia phoned the US president who then touted the possible summit in Hungary.

The next day, the president hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but left empty-handed after a allegedly strained discussion.

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

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

However the Ukrainian leader later commented on the timeline of developments.

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a little further away for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less interested in diplomacy," he said.

Thus, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to planning a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and confidentially pressuring Zelensky to cede all of Donbas – even territory Russia has been unable to conquer.

He has finally settled on advocating a truce along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has rejected.

During his election campaign previously, the candidate vowed that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has since abandoned that commitment, admitting that concluding the war is proving more difficult than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his authority – and the challenge of establishing a peace plan when neither side wants, or can afford to, give up the fight.