🔗 Share this article

Reports of an upcoming American-Russian leadership summit have been overstated, apparently.

Just days after President Trump announced he planned to confer with Russia's leader Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

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

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump told the press at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a waste of time, so I will observe what happens."

• Donald Trump states he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after plan for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky departs White House empty-handed

The frequently changing summit is just the latest development in Trump's attempts to mediate an end to hostilities in Ukraine – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in the North African country last week to commemorate that truce deal, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

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

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for the negotiation team may be challenging to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for nearing several years.

Reduced Influence

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a deal was the Israeli government's decision to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump leverage to pressure Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump gained from a long record of siding with Israel since his initial presidency, including his decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his support for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, actually, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that provided him with unique influence over the nation's head.

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

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has much less leverage. In recent months, he has vacillated between efforts to pressure Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has threatened to impose additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that such actions could harm the global economy and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the president has criticized openly Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off information exchange with the country and pausing arms shipments to the country - only to then back off in the wake of worried European partners who caution a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the entire region.

The president often boasts about his ability to sit down and hammer out deals, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to move the war any nearer a peaceful end.

Putin may actually be exploiting the US leader's wish for a settlement – and belief in direct negotiations - as a means of influencing him.

During the summer, Russia's leader consented to a summit in Alaska just as it seemed probable that Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package backed by GOP senators. That legislation was subsequently put on hold.

Last week, as reports spread that the White House was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned Trump who then promoted the potential summit in Budapest.

The following day, the president welcomed Ukraine's leader at the White House, but left without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

The US leader maintained 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 remarked.

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

"Once the issue of long-range mobility became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to planning a Budapest summit with Putin and privately pressuring Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – including land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on calling for a truce along current battle lines – something Russia has rejected.

During his election campaign last year, the candidate vowed that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has subsequently discarded that commitment, saying that ending the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his power – and the difficulty of establishing a peace plan when both parties wants, or can afford to, give up the fight.