How Trump Achieved a Major Step in Gaza Yet Struggles With Putin Over Ukraine

Accounts of an upcoming American-Russian leadership summit have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Just days after Donald Trump said he planned to meet Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

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

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump informed the press at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I'll see what happens."

• Donald Trump states he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin postponed
• Disappointment in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs White House empty-handed

The frequently changing meeting is another development in the president's attempts to mediate an end to hostilities in Ukraine – a topic of renewed focus for the American leader after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal in Gaza.

During a speech in the North African country last week to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.

"We have to get the Russian situation resolved," he declared.

Nonetheless, the conditions that aligned to make a Middle East success achievable for the negotiation team may be difficult to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been ongoing for nearing several years.

Reduced Influence

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was Israel's move to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that angered America's Arab allies but provided Trump leverage to compel Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump benefited from a long record of supporting the Israeli state dating back to his initial presidency, encompassing his decision to relocate the American embassy to the contested city, to alter America's position on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his backing for Israel's military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, in fact, is more popular among Israelis than Netanyahu – a situation that provided him with unique influence over the nation's head.

Add in Trump's connections in politics and business to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a wealth of negotiating strength to secure an deal.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, the president has significantly reduced influence. Over the past nine months, he has swung between efforts to pressure Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has threatened to enact additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. But he has also recognised that such actions could harm the global economy and intensify the conflict.

At the same time, the president has publicly berated Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off information exchange with the country and suspending arms shipments to the country - only to then retreat in the face of worried European partners who warn a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the whole area.

The president often boasts about his skill to sit down and hammer out deals, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to move the hostilities any closer to a resolution.

The Russian president may actually be using Trump's desire for a deal – and faith in direct negotiations - as a method of influencing him.

During the summer, Putin consented to a summit in Alaska at the time when it seemed probable that Trump would approve on legislative penalties backed by Senate Republicans. That legislation was subsequently delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the White House was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the Russian leader phoned the US president who then touted the possible summit in Budapest.

The following day, the president hosted Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed without agreements after a reportedly strained discussion.

Trump insisted that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"As you are aware, I've been played throughout my career by skilled operators, and I emerged successfully," he remarked.

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

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a little further away for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less interested in diplomacy," he said.

So, in a short period, Trump has bounced from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to the Eastern European country to organizing a Budapest summit with Putin and confidentially urging the Ukrainian president to surrender all of Donbas – even land Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on advocating a truce along present frontlines – something the Russian government has rejected.

On the campaign trail last year, Trump promised that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that commitment, saying that concluding the war is turning out harder than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the constraints of his power – and the difficulty of establishing a framework for peace when both parties desires, or is able to, give up the fight.