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

Just days after Donald Trump said he intended to meet Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary get-together by the both countries' top diplomats has been called off, too.

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump told the press at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a waste of time, so I will observe what happens."

• Trump says he did not want a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Letdown in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The on-again, off-again meeting is another development in the president's attempts to mediate an conclusion to war in Ukraine – a subject of increased attention for the US president after he orchestrated a truce and hostage release deal in Gaza.

While making remarks in the North African country recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for the negotiation team may be difficult to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for nearing several years.

Reduced Influence

Per the lead negotiator, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was Israel's move to attack Hamas negotiators in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered America's Arab allies but provided Trump bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump benefited from a long record of supporting the Israeli state dating back to his first term, including his decision to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, to alter US policy on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his backing for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

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

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

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, Trump has significantly reduced leverage. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between efforts to strong-arm the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has warned to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to supply Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the war.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and suspending weapon deliveries to the country - then to back off in the wake of concerned European allies who caution a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the entire region.

Trump often boasts about his skill to sit down and negotiate 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 actually be exploiting Trump's desire for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a means of manipulating him.

In July, Putin consented to a high-level meeting in Alaska at the time when it seemed probable that Trump would approve on legislative penalties supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was afterwards delayed.

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the president of Russia called the US president who then touted the potential meeting in Budapest.

The following day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the executive residence, but left empty-handed after a allegedly strained discussion.

Trump maintained that he was not being manipulated by the Russian president.

"You know, I've been played all my life by the best of them, and I came out really well," he said.

However the president of Ukraine later made note of the timeline of developments.

"Once the matter of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a short period, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to planning a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to cede all of Donbas – including land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

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

During his election campaign last year, Trump promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has subsequently discarded that pledge, admitting that concluding the hostilities is turning out harder than he expected.

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