🔗 Share this article

Reports of an upcoming American-Russian presidential meeting have been greatly exaggerated, 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 summit has been put off without a new date.

A initial meeting by the both countries' leading diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," President Trump informed 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 arrangement for negotiations with Putin postponed
• Letdown in Kyiv as President Zelensky leaves Washington without results

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest development in the president's attempts to broker an end to war in Ukraine – a topic of renewed focus for the US president after he orchestrated a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in Egypt recently to commemorate that truce deal, the president turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

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

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

Reduced Influence

Per the lead negotiator, the crucial element to achieving a deal was the Israeli government's move to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered US partners in the Arab world but gave Trump leverage to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a long record of siding with the Israeli state since his initial presidency, encompassing his decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, to change America's position on the legality of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, more recently, his backing for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, actually, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a position that gave him special sway over the nation's head.

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

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced influence. Over the past nine months, he has swung between attempts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to impose additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that such actions could disrupt the world's financial stability and intensify the war.

At the same time, the president has criticized openly Zelensky, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing arms shipments to the nation - then to back off in the face of worried European partners who caution a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the entire region.

Trump often boasts about his ability to sit down and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to advance the hostilities any nearer a resolution.

Putin may in fact be using Trump's desire for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a method of manipulating him.

In July, Russia's leader consented to a high-level meeting in the US state just as it appeared likely that the president would sign off on congressional sanctions package backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

Last week, as news emerged that the US administration was seriously contemplating shipping long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the Russian leader called Trump who then touted the potential summit in Budapest.

The next day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed empty-handed after a allegedly tense meeting.

The US leader insisted that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"As you are aware, 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 sequence of events.

"As soon as the matter of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for us – for Ukraine – Russia quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.

Thus, in a matter of days, the president has shifted from considering the idea of sending missiles to Ukraine to planning a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – including land Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on calling for a truce along present frontlines – a proposal Russia has rejected.

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

It has been a uncommon admission of the constraints of his authority – and the challenge of finding a peace plan when both parties desires, or can afford to, give up the fight.