How Donald Trump Achieved a Major Step in Gaza Yet Faces Challenges With Putin Concerning Ukraine

Reports of an impending US-Russia presidential summit have been overstated, apparently.

Only a few days after Donald Trump announced he intended to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

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

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump informed the press at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I aim to avoid a waste of time, so I'll see what happens."

• Trump says he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after plan for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Letdown in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest twist in Trump's efforts to broker an conclusion to hostilities in Ukraine – a topic of increased attention for the American leader after he arranged a truce and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in Egypt recently to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump turned to Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

"We have to get Russia resolved," he declared.

Nonetheless, the conditions that converged to make a Middle East success achievable for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for nearing four years.

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the key to achieving a agreement was Israel's decision to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a move that angered America's Arab allies but provided Trump bargaining power to pressure Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president gained from a history of siding with Israel since his initial presidency, including his choice to move the American embassy to the contested city, to alter America's position on the lawfulness of Jewish communities in the West Bank and, in recent times, his support for Israel's military campaign against Iran.

The US president, actually, is better regarded among the Israeli public than their prime minister – a situation that gave him unique influence over the nation's head.

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

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, Trump has significantly reduced leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between attempts to pressure Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has threatened to impose additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could harm the global economy and intensify the war.

Meanwhile, the president has publicly berated Zelensky, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the nation - then to back off in the face of concerned European allies who warn a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the entire region.

Trump loves to tout his ability to meet and negotiate agreements, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to move the war any nearer a resolution.

Putin may in fact be using the US leader's wish for a deal – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a means of influencing him.

During the summer, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in Alaska just as it appeared likely that the president would sign off on legislative penalties supported by Senate Republicans. That legislation was subsequently put on hold.

Last week, as reports spread that the White House was seriously contemplating shipping long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then promoted the possible meeting in Hungary.

The next day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the White House, but left without agreements after a reportedly strained discussion.

The US leader maintained that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

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

However the Ukrainian leader later commented on the sequence of events.

"As soon as the matter of advanced weaponry became a little further away for us – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.

Thus, in a short period, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Putin and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – including land Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

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

On the campaign trail last year, the candidate vowed that he could end the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has since discarded that pledge, admitting that ending the war is turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his authority – and the challenge of finding a framework for peace when neither side desires, or is able to, cease hostilities.