Why Trump Secured a Breakthrough in Gaza Yet Faces Challenges Regarding Vladimir Putin Over Ukraine

Accounts of an impending US-Russia leadership summit have been overstated, apparently.

Only a few days after President Trump announced he planned 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' top diplomats has been called off, too.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump informed reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a waste of time, so I'll see what happens."

• Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after plan 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 conclusion to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he arranged a truce and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in Egypt recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

"It is essential to get the Russian situation done," he said.

Nonetheless, the conditions that aligned to make a Middle East success possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for almost several years.

Reduced Influence

According to the lead negotiator, the crucial element to unlocking a deal was Israel's move to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that infuriated America's Arab allies but gave the president bargaining power to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president gained from a history of supporting Israel dating back to his first term, including his choice to relocate the US embassy to the contested city, to change US policy on the legality of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his support for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, actually, is better regarded among Israelis than Netanyahu – a position that provided him with 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 wealth of negotiating strength to force an deal.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced influence. In recent months, he has swung between attempts to pressure the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has warned to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to provide the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could harm the global economy and further escalate the war.

At the same time, the US leader has publicly berated Zelensky, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the nation - only to then retreat in the wake of worried European partners who caution a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the entire region.

The president loves to tout his skill to meet and negotiate agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to advance the hostilities any nearer a resolution.

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

During the summer, Putin consented to a summit in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that the president would sign off on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That legislation was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating shipping long-range missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the president of Russia called Trump who then touted the possible summit in Hungary.

The next day, the president hosted Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but left empty-handed after a allegedly tense meeting.

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

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

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

"As soon as the issue of long-range mobility became a less accessible for us – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less interested in negotiations," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to planning a Budapest summit with Putin and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – even land Russia has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately settled on advocating a truce along present frontlines – something Russia has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, the candidate promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has since abandoned that pledge, admitting that ending the war is turning out harder than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the constraints of his power – and the challenge of finding a framework for peace when neither side desires, or is able to, give up the fight.