Why Donald Trump Secured a Major Step in the Middle East Yet Faces Challenges With Vladimir Putin Over Ukraine

Accounts of an upcoming American-Russian leadership meeting have been overstated, apparently.

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

A preliminary meeting by the two nations' leading diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

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

• Trump says he did not want a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Disappointment in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves Washington empty-handed

The frequently changing meeting is just the latest twist in Trump's efforts to mediate an conclusion to hostilities in Ukraine – a topic of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

During a speech in the North African country last week to commemorate that truce deal, the president turned to Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

"It is essential to get the Russian situation done," 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 conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for nearing four years.

Less Leverage

Per the lead negotiator, the key to achieving a agreement was Israel's decision to attack representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that infuriated America's Arab allies but provided the president bargaining power to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president benefited from a long record of siding with Israel since his initial presidency, encompassing his choice to relocate the US embassy to the contested city, to alter US policy on the legality of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The American leader, actually, is better regarded among Israelis than Netanyahu – a position that gave him unique influence over the nation's head.

Combine Trump's political and economic ties to key Arab players in the area, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to force an agreement.

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

Trump has threatened to enact new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could disrupt the global economy and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the president has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the nation - then to retreat in the face of worried European partners who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

The president often boasts about his skill to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to advance the hostilities any nearer a peaceful end.

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

In July, Putin agreed to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it seemed probable that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by Senate Republicans. That bill was afterwards delayed.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was considering seriously sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then touted the potential summit in Budapest.

The next day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but departed empty-handed 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 all my life by the best of them, and I emerged really well," he said.

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 Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less engaged 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 Putin and confidentially pressuring the Ukrainian president to cede the entire Donbas region – even territory Russia has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately decided on advocating a ceasefire along present frontlines – something the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate vowed that he could end the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has since discarded that pledge, admitting that concluding the hostilities is turning out harder than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the constraints of his power – and the challenge of establishing a peace plan when both parties wants, or is able to, cease hostilities.