How Trump Secured a Major Step in Gaza But Faces Challenges Regarding Putin Concerning Ukraine

Reports of an impending US-Russia leadership summit have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

Just days after President Trump announced he intended to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.

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

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I will observe what happens."

• Donald Trump states he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for Putin talks shelved
• Letdown in Kyiv as Zelensky departs White House without results

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest development in Trump's attempts to broker an conclusion to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the American leader after he arranged a truce and hostage release deal in Gaza.

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

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

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

Less Leverage

Per the lead negotiator, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was the Israeli government's decision to attack representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided the president bargaining power to compel Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

Trump benefited from a long record of supporting the Israeli state since his initial presidency, including his decision to move the US embassy to the contested city, to alter America's position on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, in recent times, his backing for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, actually, is better regarded among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that provided him with special sway over the Israeli leader.

Combine Trump's connections in politics and business to key Arab players in the region, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to secure an deal.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, Trump has much less influence. Over the past nine months, he has swung between attempts to strong-arm Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has threatened to enact additional penalties on Russian energy exports and to supply Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that such actions could harm the global economy and intensify the war.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the country - only to then back off in the face of worried European partners who caution a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the entire region.

Trump often boasts about his ability to sit down and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to advance the hostilities any nearer a peaceful end.

The Russian president may in fact be exploiting the US leader's wish for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a means of influencing him.

During the summer, Russia's leader agreed to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it seemed probable that the president would sign off on legislative penalties supported by Senate Republicans. That legislation was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the US administration was considering seriously shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the president of Russia called Trump who then touted the potential meeting in Hungary.

The following day, the president welcomed Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed empty-handed after a reportedly strained discussion.

The US leader maintained that he was not being played by the Russian president.

"As you are aware, I've been played throughout my career by the best of them, and I emerged really well," he said.

However the Ukrainian leader subsequently made note of the sequence of events.

"Once the issue of long-range mobility became a little further away for us – for Ukraine – the Russian side quickly became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.

Thus, in a matter of days, the president has bounced from considering the idea of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Putin and confidentially pressuring the Ukrainian president to cede the entire Donbas region – including territory Russian forces has been failed to capture.

He has ultimately decided on advocating a ceasefire along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump promised that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has subsequently abandoned that pledge, saying that concluding the war is turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his authority – and the difficulty of establishing a peace plan when both parties wants, or can afford to, cease hostilities.