How Donald Trump Achieved a Major Step in Gaza Yet Struggles With Vladimir Putin Concerning Ukraine

Accounts of an impending American-Russian presidential meeting have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Just days after President Trump announced he planned to meet Russian President Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

A initial meeting by the both countries' leading diplomats has been called off, too.

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," President Trump informed the press at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I don't want a waste of time, so I will observe what happens."

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin postponed
• Letdown in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky departs Washington empty-handed

The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest development in Trump's attempts to broker an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the US president after he orchestrated a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.

During a speech in Egypt last week to celebrate that truce deal, Trump turned to Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.

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

However, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for the negotiation team may be challenging to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for nearing several 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 the president leverage to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president benefited from a history of siding with Israel since his first term, including his choice to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, to change America's position on the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, in fact, is better regarded among Israelis than their prime minister – a position that provided him with unique influence over the Israeli leader.

Combine the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to force an agreement.

In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has significantly reduced influence. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between attempts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has threatened to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to supply Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could harm the global economy and further escalate the conflict.

At the same time, the US leader has publicly berated Zelensky, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and pausing arms shipments to the country - then to retreat in the face of worried European partners who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

The president loves to tout his ability to sit down and negotiate deals, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to advance the hostilities any nearer a peaceful end.

Putin may in fact be using Trump's desire 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 appeared likely that the president would approve on congressional sanctions package backed by GOP senators. That legislation was afterwards put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the US administration was considering seriously sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the president of Russia phoned the US president who then touted the possible meeting in Hungary.

The following day, Trump welcomed Zelensky at the executive residence, but left without agreements after a reportedly strained discussion.

Trump maintained that he was not being played by Putin.

"You know, I have been manipulated all my life by the best of them, and I came out really well," he said.

However the Ukrainian leader subsequently commented on the timeline of developments.

"As soon as the issue of advanced weaponry became a little further away for Ukraine – for our nation – Russia quickly became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a short period, the president has bounced from considering the idea of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to planning a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately pressuring the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – even territory Russia has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately settled on advocating a truce along present frontlines – something the Russian government has rejected.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump promised that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has since abandoned that commitment, admitting that concluding the war is proving more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his power – and the challenge of finding a framework for peace when neither side desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.