🔗 Share this article

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

Only a few days after President Trump said he intended to confer with Russia's leader Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

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

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," President Trump informed reporters at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I will observe what transpires."

• Donald Trump states he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after plan for Putin talks postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky departs White House without results

The frequently changing meeting is another development in the president's attempts to mediate an conclusion to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the US president after he orchestrated a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

"We have to get Russia resolved," he declared.

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

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's move to attack Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided the president leverage to pressure Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump gained from a long record of supporting Israel dating back to his first term, encompassing his decision to move the US embassy to the contested city, to alter US policy on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, more recently, his backing for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, in fact, is more popular among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a position that provided him with special sway over the Israeli leader.

Add in Trump's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the region, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has much less influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between attempts to strong-arm Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has warned to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that such actions could disrupt the world's financial stability and further escalate the war.

Meanwhile, the president has criticized openly Zelensky, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the nation - only to then retreat in the face of worried European partners who warn a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the whole area.

The president loves to tout his ability to sit down and negotiate deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to move the hostilities any closer to a resolution.

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

During the summer, Russia's leader consented to a summit in Alaska at the time when it appeared likely that the president would sign off on legislative penalties backed by GOP senators. That bill was afterwards delayed.

Recently, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the president of Russia phoned Trump who then touted the potential meeting in Budapest.

The following day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but departed without agreements after a allegedly strained discussion.

Trump maintained that he was not being played by Putin.

"You know, I've been played all my life by the best of them, and I came out really well," he remarked.

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

"Once the matter of advanced weaponry became a little further away for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

Thus, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and confidentially urging Zelensky to cede the entire Donbas region – even territory Russia has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately settled on advocating a ceasefire along current battle lines – something the Russian government has rejected.

On the campaign trail previously, Trump vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has subsequently discarded that commitment, admitting that ending the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the constraints of his authority – and the challenge of finding a peace plan when neither side desires, or can afford to, give up the fight.