🔗 Share this article

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

Just days after President Trump announced he planned 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 meeting by the two nations' leading diplomats has been called off, too.

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a waste of time, so I will observe what transpires."

• Donald Trump states he did not want a 'unproductive session' after plan for Putin talks postponed
• Letdown in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs Washington empty-handed

The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest development in the president's efforts to mediate an conclusion to war in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in Egypt recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

"We have to get Russia done," he said.

However, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for nearing several years.

Less Leverage

According to Witkoff, the crucial element to unlocking a agreement was Israel's move to strike representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but gave the president bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president benefited from a history of siding with Israel since his first term, encompassing his choice to move the American embassy to the contested city, to alter US policy on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, more recently, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

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

Combine Trump's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to secure an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has much less leverage. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between attempts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has warned to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to supply the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - then to back off in the wake of worried European partners who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the whole area.

The president loves to tout his skill to meet and negotiate deals, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to move the war any closer to a resolution.

Putin may in fact be exploiting Trump's desire for a settlement – and belief in direct negotiations - as a means of manipulating him.

In July, Putin agreed to a high-level meeting in Alaska just as it appeared likely that Trump would sign off on congressional sanctions package supported by Senate Republicans. That legislation was subsequently delayed.

Last week, as news emerged that the US administration was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the Russian leader called Trump who then touted the potential summit in Hungary.

The next day, the president hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but left empty-handed after a reportedly tense meeting.

Trump insisted that he was not being played by Putin.

"As you are aware, I've been played all my life by skilled operators, and I came out really well," he remarked.

However the president of Ukraine subsequently commented on the timeline of developments.

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

So, in a matter of days, the president has shifted from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to Ukraine to planning a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and confidentially urging Zelensky to cede the entire Donbas region – even territory Russia has been unable to conquer.

He has finally settled on advocating a ceasefire along current battle lines – something Russia has refused to accept.

During his election campaign previously, Trump promised that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine 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 rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his authority – and the challenge of finding a peace plan when both parties wants, or is able to, cease hostilities.