Why Trump Achieved a Major Step in Gaza Yet Faces Challenges With Vladimir Putin Concerning Ukraine

Reports of an upcoming US-Russia presidential meeting have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

Only a few days after President Trump said he intended to meet Russian President Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

A preliminary meeting by the two nations' leading diplomats has been called off, too.

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump informed reporters at the White House on a recent weekday. "I aim to avoid a pointless effort, so I will observe what transpires."

• Donald Trump says he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after plan for Putin talks postponed
• Disappointment in Kyiv as Zelensky leaves Washington empty-handed

The on-again, off-again meeting is just the latest development in the president's efforts to mediate an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the American leader after he arranged a truce and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

While making remarks in the North African country recently to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

"It is essential to get the Russian situation resolved," he declared.

Nonetheless, the circumstances that converged 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 key to achieving a deal was the Israeli government's move to strike representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but gave Trump bargaining power to compel Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president benefited from a history of supporting the Israeli state since his first term, including his decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, 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 the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, in fact, is better regarded among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a situation that gave him unique influence over the Israeli leader.

Combine the president's political and economic ties to key Arab players in the area, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to force an agreement.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, Trump has much less influence. Over the past nine months, he has vacillated between efforts to strong-arm the Russian president and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has threatened to enact new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that doing so could disrupt the global economy and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has criticized openly Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and pausing arms shipments to the nation - only to then retreat in the face of concerned European allies who warn a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the entire region.

The president loves to tout his skill to sit down and negotiate deals, 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 the US leader's wish for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a means of manipulating him.

During the summer, Putin agreed to a summit in the US state at the time when it seemed probable that Trump would sign off on legislative penalties backed by GOP senators. That legislation was afterwards put on hold.

Last week, as news emerged that the US administration was seriously contemplating shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the Russian leader called the US president who then touted the potential summit in Hungary.

The next day, the president welcomed Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but departed without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

Trump insisted that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"You know, I've been played all my life by skilled operators, and I emerged really well," he remarked.

However the president of Ukraine later made note of the sequence of events.

"Once the matter of advanced weaponry became a little further away for Ukraine – for Ukraine – the Russian side almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to planning a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and privately urging Zelensky to surrender the entire Donbas region – even land Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has finally decided on calling for a ceasefire along present frontlines – something Russia has rejected.

On the campaign trail previously, the candidate vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has since discarded that pledge, saying that concluding the war is turning out more difficult than he expected.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the limits of his power – and the challenge of establishing a framework for peace when neither side desires, or is able to, give up the fight.