How Trump Achieved a Major Step in the Middle East But Struggles Regarding Vladimir Putin Concerning the Ukraine Conflict

Accounts of an impending US-Russia leadership summit have been overstated, apparently.

Only a few days after President Trump announced he planned to confer with Russia's leader Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

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

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump informed the press at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I will observe what happens."

• Donald Trump says he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky departs Washington without results

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest development in Trump's attempts to mediate an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of increased attention for the American leader after he orchestrated a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in Gaza.

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

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success achievable for the negotiation team may be challenging to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for nearing four years.

Less Leverage

According to the lead negotiator, the key to unlocking a deal was the Israeli government's move to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump gained from a history of siding with the Israeli state since his initial presidency, including his choice to relocate the US embassy to the contested city, to alter America's position on the legality of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, in recent times, his support for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

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

Add in Trump's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to force an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has much less influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between efforts to pressure the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has warned to enact new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to supply Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could disrupt the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

At the same time, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the nation - only to then back off in the wake of worried European partners who warn a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the entire region.

Trump loves to tout his skill to meet and negotiate deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to advance the hostilities any closer to a peaceful end.

The Russian president may actually be using Trump's desire for a deal – and belief in direct negotiations - as a method of manipulating him.

During the summer, Russia's leader consented to a summit in Alaska just as it seemed probable that the president would sign off on congressional sanctions package backed by GOP senators. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the US administration was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned Trump who then promoted the potential meeting in Budapest.

The following day, Trump hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but left empty-handed after a reportedly tense meeting.

The US leader insisted that he was not being played by the Russian president.

"As you are aware, 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 later commented on the sequence of events.

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – Russia quickly became less engaged in negotiations," he said.

Thus, in a short period, Trump has shifted from considering the idea of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and confidentially urging the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – including territory Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally 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 very short time. He has since abandoned that pledge, admitting that ending the hostilities is turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his authority – and the difficulty of finding a peace plan when both parties wants, or can afford to, give up the fight.