How Donald Trump Achieved a Major Step in Gaza But Faces Challenges Regarding Putin Over the Ukraine Conflict

Accounts of an impending US-Russia presidential meeting have been overstated, apparently.

Just days after President Trump announced he intended to meet Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary get-together by the both countries' top diplomats has been cancelled, too.

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

• Trump states he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after plan for negotiations with Putin postponed
• Letdown in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves Washington without results

The frequently changing summit is just the latest development in Trump's attempts to mediate an end to war in Ukraine – a topic of increased attention for the US president after he orchestrated a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in Gaza.

During a speech in the North African country recently to celebrate that truce deal, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

"We have to get Russia done," he said.

Nonetheless, the conditions that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been ongoing for nearing four years.

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the key to unlocking a agreement was the Israeli government's decision to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that angered America's Arab allies but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump benefited from a long record of supporting Israel since his first term, encompassing his choice to relocate the US embassy to the contested city, to alter US policy on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, in recent times, his support for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, in fact, is more popular among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a situation that provided him with special sway over the nation's head.

Add in the president's connections in politics and business to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to secure an agreement.

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

The US leader has warned to impose new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the global economy and intensify the war.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with the country and pausing arms shipments to the nation - only to then back off in the wake of worried European partners who warn a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the whole area.

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 haven't seemed to move the war any closer to a resolution.

Putin may in fact be using Trump's desire for a deal – and faith in direct negotiations - as a method of influencing him.

During the summer, Putin consented to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently delayed.

Last week, as reports spread that the White House was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the president of Russia phoned the US president who then touted the potential meeting in Hungary.

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

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

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated all my life by skilled operators, and I came out really well," he said.

However the president of Ukraine later commented on the sequence of events.

"Once the issue of advanced weaponry became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in negotiations," he stated.

Thus, in a short period, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to planning a Budapest summit with Putin and confidentially urging Zelensky to cede all of Donbas – even land Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

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

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate promised that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has since abandoned that commitment, admitting that ending the war is turning out harder than he expected.

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 is able to, give up the fight.