🔗 Share this article

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

Just days after President Trump announced he intended to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A initial meeting by the two nations' leading diplomats has been called off, as well.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," President Trump informed reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I will observe what happens."

• Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky departs White House without results

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest development in Trump's attempts to mediate an conclusion to hostilities in Ukraine – a subject of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in Egypt last week to celebrate that truce deal, the president turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

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

Nonetheless, the conditions that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough possible 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 Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a deal was Israel's move to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but gave Trump leverage to compel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president gained from a long record of supporting Israel since his initial presidency, including his choice to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, to change America's position on the legality of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, more recently, his backing for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The American leader, in fact, is better regarded among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a situation that provided him with special sway over the Israeli leader.

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.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, the president has much less leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has warned to enact new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to provide the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. 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 criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the nation - only to then retreat in the wake of concerned European allies who caution a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the whole area.

Trump loves to tout his ability to meet and negotiate agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to move the war any closer to a resolution.

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

In July, Russia's leader consented to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that the president would sign off on congressional sanctions package supported by GOP senators. That bill was afterwards put on hold.

Recently, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating shipping long-range missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the president of Russia called Trump who then promoted the potential meeting in Hungary.

The next day, the president hosted Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed empty-handed after a allegedly strained discussion.

The US leader maintained that he was not being played by the Russian president.

"You know, I've been played throughout my career by skilled operators, and I emerged really well," he said.

But the president of Ukraine subsequently commented on the sequence of events.

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a little further away for us – for Ukraine – the Russian side almost automatically became less engaged in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a short period, Trump has bounced from considering the idea of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Putin and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to cede the entire Donbas region – even land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately decided on calling for a truce along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, the candidate vowed that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has since discarded that commitment, saying that concluding the hostilities is turning out harder than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his authority – and the difficulty of establishing a peace plan when both parties wants, or is able to, cease hostilities.