🔗 Share this article

Accounts of an upcoming American-Russian leadership meeting have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

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

A initial get-together by the two nations' top diplomats has been called off, as well.

"I prefer not to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump informed the press at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I will observe what transpires."

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after plan for Putin talks shelved
• Letdown in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves White House without results

The frequently changing meeting is another development in Trump's efforts to broker an conclusion to war in Ukraine – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he arranged a truce and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in Egypt last week to commemorate that truce deal, Trump addressed Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

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

Nonetheless, the conditions 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 several years.

Less Leverage

Per the lead negotiator, the key to unlocking a agreement was Israel's move to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered America's Arab allies but gave Trump leverage to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump benefited from a long record of siding with Israel dating back to his initial presidency, including his decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, to change America's position on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his backing for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The American leader, actually, is more popular 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 key Arab players in the area, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to secure an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced influence. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between attempts to strong-arm the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has threatened to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to supply the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that such actions could harm the global economy and further escalate the war.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with the country and pausing weapon deliveries to the nation - then to back off in the face of concerned European allies who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the entire region.

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

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

In July, Russia's leader consented to a high-level meeting in Alaska just as it appeared likely that Trump would sign off on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the Russian leader called Trump who then touted the potential meeting in Hungary.

The next day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the executive residence, but departed empty-handed after a allegedly tense meeting.

Trump maintained that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"You know, I've been played all my life by skilled operators, and I came out really well," he remarked.

But the Ukrainian leader later made note of the sequence of events.

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for us – for our nation – Russia quickly became less engaged in negotiations," he stated.

Thus, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to Ukraine to planning a Budapest summit with Putin and confidentially urging Zelensky to surrender all of Donbas – even territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately settled on calling for a ceasefire along current battle lines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

During his election campaign last year, Trump promised that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that pledge, admitting that ending the war is turning out harder than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the challenge of finding a framework for peace when both parties desires, or can afford to, give up the fight.