How Donald Trump Secured a Major Step in Gaza Yet Faces Challenges With Vladimir Putin Over the Ukraine Conflict

Reports of an impending American-Russian leadership meeting have been overstated, it seems.

Only a few days after Donald Trump announced he planned to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A initial get-together by the both countries' top diplomats has been cancelled, too.

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump informed the press at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I'll see what transpires."

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

The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest twist in Trump's efforts to mediate an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of renewed focus for the American leader after he orchestrated a truce and hostage release deal in Gaza.

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

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

Nonetheless, the circumstances that converged to make a Gaza breakthrough achievable for the negotiation team may be difficult to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for nearing four years.

Less Leverage

According to the lead negotiator, the key to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's decision to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided the president leverage to compel Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president gained from a history of supporting Israel dating back to his first term, encompassing his choice to relocate the US embassy to the contested city, to change America's position on the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his backing for Israeli defense operations against Iran.

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

Add in 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.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, by contrast, Trump has significantly reduced influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between efforts to pressure Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

Trump has threatened to impose additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and further escalate the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and pausing arms shipments to the nation - then to retreat in the wake of worried European partners who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the whole area.

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 advance the war any closer to a peaceful end.

Putin may actually be exploiting the US leader's wish for a settlement – and faith in direct negotiations - as a method of influencing him.

During the summer, Putin agreed to a summit in Alaska just as it seemed probable that Trump would sign off on congressional sanctions package backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

Last week, as news emerged that the White House was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then promoted the possible summit in Hungary.

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

The US leader insisted that he was not being played by Putin.

"As you are aware, I have been manipulated throughout my career by skilled operators, and I came out really well," he remarked.

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

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a less accessible for Ukraine – for Ukraine – Russia almost automatically became less engaged in diplomacy," he stated.

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

He has ultimately settled on advocating a truce along present frontlines – a proposal Russia has rejected.

During his election campaign last year, Trump vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has since discarded that pledge, saying that ending the war is proving harder than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his authority – and the difficulty of establishing a framework for peace when both parties wants, or is able to, give up the fight.