🔗 Share this article

Accounts of an impending US-Russia presidential summit have been overstated, it seems.

Only a few days after President Trump announced he intended to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

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

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," President Trump told reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a waste of time, so I'll see what happens."

• Trump says he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky leaves Washington empty-handed

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest development in Trump's efforts to broker an end to war in Ukraine – a subject of increased attention for the American leader after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in Egypt recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, the president turned to Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

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

However, the circumstances that converged to make a Middle East success achievable for the negotiation team may be difficult to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for almost four years.

Less Leverage

According to Witkoff, the key to achieving a deal was Israel's decision to strike Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that angered America's Arab allies but provided Trump leverage to pressure Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a long record of supporting the Israeli state since his initial presidency, encompassing his choice to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his backing for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

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

Combine Trump's political and economic ties to key Arab players in the region, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to force an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has much less influence. In recent months, he has swung between efforts to pressure Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has warned to enact new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to provide the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the war.

At the same time, the US leader has publicly berated Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - then to back off in the wake of concerned European allies who warn a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the entire region.

Trump loves to tout his ability to meet and negotiate deals, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to advance the hostilities any closer to a resolution.

The Russian president may in fact be using Trump's desire for a deal – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a means of manipulating him.

In July, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in the US state just as it seemed probable that the president would approve on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That legislation was subsequently put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then touted the potential summit in Hungary.

The following day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the White House, but departed without agreements after a allegedly strained discussion.

Trump maintained that he was not being played by Putin.

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated throughout my career by skilled operators, and I came out really well," he remarked.

But the president of Ukraine subsequently made note of the sequence of events.

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for us – for Ukraine – Russia almost automatically became less engaged in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to Ukraine to planning a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately urging the Ukrainian president to cede all of Donbas – including land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

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

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate promised that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has subsequently abandoned that commitment, admitting that concluding the war is proving more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his authority – and the challenge of establishing a framework for peace when both parties desires, or can afford to, give up the fight.