Why Donald Trump Achieved a Breakthrough in Gaza Yet Faces Challenges With Putin Over Ukraine

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

Only a few days after President Trump said he intended to confer with Russian President Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A initial meeting by the both countries' leading diplomats has been cancelled, as well.

"I don't want to have a wasted meeting," President Trump informed reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I'll see what transpires."

• Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky departs Washington empty-handed

The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest development in Trump's attempts to mediate an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a topic of increased attention for the American leader after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in the Palestinian territory.

During a speech in Egypt last week to celebrate that truce deal, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

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

However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success achievable for the negotiation team may be difficult to duplicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for almost several years.

Reduced Influence

According to Witkoff, the crucial element to unlocking a agreement was the Israeli government's move to strike representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered America's Arab allies but provided the president leverage to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a long record of siding with the Israeli state since his initial presidency, including his decision to move the US embassy to the contested city, to alter US policy on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his support for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

The US president, actually, is better regarded among Israelis than their prime minister – a position that provided him with unique influence over the nation's head.

Add in the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to force an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, Trump has significantly reduced influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has threatened to enact new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to supply Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could disrupt the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, halting briefly 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 caution a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the entire region.

Trump loves to tout his ability to sit down and negotiate agreements, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to advance the hostilities any closer to a resolution.

Putin may in fact be exploiting Trump's desire for a deal – and faith in direct negotiations - as a means of manipulating him.

In July, Putin consented to a high-level meeting in Alaska just as it seemed probable that Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by GOP senators. That legislation was afterwards delayed.

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was considering seriously sending Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned Trump who then promoted the possible summit in Budapest.

The following day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the executive residence, but left empty-handed after a allegedly tense meeting.

Trump maintained that he was not being played by Putin.

"As you are aware, I've been played all my life by skilled operators, and I emerged successfully," he said.

But the president of Ukraine subsequently made note of the timeline of developments.

"Once the issue of long-range mobility became a less accessible for us – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy," he said.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to Ukraine to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and privately urging the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – including territory Russia has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately settled on calling for a truce along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, the candidate vowed that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that pledge, saying that concluding the war is turning out harder 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 both parties desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.