🔗 Share this article

Accounts of an impending American-Russian leadership summit have been overstated, it seems.

Only a few days after President Trump announced he planned to meet Russian President 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 cancelled, as well.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," President Trump informed the press at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a waste of time, so I'll see what happens."

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after plan for negotiations with Putin postponed
• Disappointment in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves Washington empty-handed

The on-again, off-again meeting is another twist in Trump's attempts to broker an end to hostilities in Ukraine – a topic of renewed focus for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in the Palestinian territory.

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

"It is essential to get the Russian situation done," he declared.

Nonetheless, the conditions that converged to make a Middle East success possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for nearing several years.

Less Leverage

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to unlocking a agreement was Israel's move to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated America's Arab allies but gave the president leverage to compel Israel's leader Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president benefited from a history of siding with Israel dating back to his initial presidency, including his choice to move the US embassy to the contested city, to change America's position on the legality of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, in fact, is more popular among the Israeli public than their prime minister – a situation that gave him unique influence over the Israeli leader.

Combine Trump's connections in politics and business to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to secure an deal.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, the president has much less leverage. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between efforts to pressure the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has warned to enact new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could disrupt the global economy and further escalate the war.

Meanwhile, the president has publicly berated Ukraine's president, halting briefly information exchange with the country and suspending weapon deliveries to the country - then to back off in the wake of concerned European allies who warn a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

Trump often boasts about his ability to sit down and negotiate agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to advance the war any closer to a resolution.

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

In July, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in the US state just as it seemed probable that the president would sign off on legislative penalties backed by Senate Republicans. That legislation was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the president of Russia phoned Trump who then touted the possible meeting in Budapest.

The next day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the White House, but left without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

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

"You know, I've been played throughout my career by the best of them, and I emerged successfully," he remarked.

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

"Once the matter of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy," he said.

So, in a short period, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Putin and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to surrender all of Donbas – including land Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately decided on advocating a truce along present frontlines – a proposal Russia has rejected.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump vowed that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that pledge, admitting that concluding the hostilities is turning out harder than he anticipated.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his power – and the challenge of establishing a peace plan when both parties desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.