🔗 Share this article

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

Just days after President Trump said he intended to confer with Russian President Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A initial meeting by the both countries' top diplomats has been called off, too.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump told reporters at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I will observe what transpires."

• Trump states he did not want a 'unproductive session' after plan for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs White House empty-handed

The frequently changing summit is just the latest twist in Trump's attempts to mediate an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

During a speech in Egypt last week to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success possible for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for almost four years.

Reduced Influence

According to the lead negotiator, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was Israel's decision to strike Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a action that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but gave Trump leverage to compel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a long record of supporting the Israeli state since his first term, encompassing his decision to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, to change US policy on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the occupied territories and, more recently, his support for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

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

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

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

Trump has threatened to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to supply Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could harm the global economy and intensify the war.

At the same time, the US leader has publicly berated Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and suspending arms shipments to the nation - only to then retreat in the face of worried European partners who warn a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the entire region.

The president often boasts about his skill to sit down and negotiate agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to move the war any nearer a resolution.

Putin may in fact be using Trump's desire for a deal – and belief in direct negotiations - as a means of manipulating him.

During the summer, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in Alaska at the time when it appeared likely that Trump would approve on legislative penalties backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was seriously contemplating shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the president of Russia phoned the US president who then promoted the potential summit in Budapest.

The following day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

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

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated throughout my career by the best of them, and I emerged successfully," he remarked.

However the Ukrainian leader subsequently commented on the timeline of developments.

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he stated.

Thus, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from considering the idea of sending missiles to Ukraine to planning a meeting in Hungary with Putin and confidentially pressuring Zelensky to cede the entire Donbas region – even territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has finally settled on advocating a ceasefire along present frontlines – a proposal Russia has rejected.

During his election campaign last year, Trump vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has since abandoned that pledge, saying that concluding the war is turning out harder than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his authority – and the challenge of establishing a framework for peace when neither side wants, or is able to, cease hostilities.