Why Donald Trump Secured a Major Step in Gaza Yet Faces Challenges With Putin Concerning the Ukraine Conflict

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

Only a few days after Donald Trump announced he planned to confer with Russian President Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

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

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

• Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky leaves White House without results

The frequently changing meeting is another twist in Trump's attempts to broker an conclusion to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a truce and prisoner exchange deal in Gaza.

While making remarks in Egypt last week to celebrate that truce deal, Trump turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

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

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

Less Leverage

According to Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a deal was the Israeli government's move to strike Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided Trump bargaining power to compel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president gained from a history of siding with Israel since his initial presidency, including his decision to move the American embassy to the contested city, to alter America's position on the legality of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his backing for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, actually, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that provided him with unique influence over the nation's head.

Add in the president's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the region, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to force an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, Trump has much less leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has warned to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to supply the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Ukraine's president, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and suspending arms shipments to the nation - then to back off in the face of concerned European allies who caution a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the whole area.

The president often boasts about his ability to meet and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to move the hostilities any closer to a resolution.

The Russian president may actually be using the US leader's wish for a deal – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a method of influencing him.

During the summer, Putin agreed to a summit in the US state at the time when it seemed probable that Trump would sign off on legislative penalties supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

Last week, as reports spread that the US administration was seriously contemplating shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned Trump who then promoted the possible meeting in Hungary.

The next day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the executive residence, but departed without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

Trump maintained that he was not being played by Putin.

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

However the Ukrainian leader subsequently made note of the timeline of developments.

"As soon as the matter of advanced weaponry became a little further away for us – for Ukraine – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in negotiations," he said.

So, in a short period, the president has bounced from considering the idea of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to planning a meeting in Hungary with Putin and privately urging Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – including territory Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has finally settled on advocating a truce along current battle lines – something Russia has rejected.

During his election campaign previously, the candidate promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has since abandoned that pledge, saying that ending the war is turning out harder than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his authority – and the difficulty of finding a peace plan when neither side desires, or is able to, cease hostilities.