Reports of an upcoming American-Russian presidential summit have been overstated, it seems.
Only a few days after President Trump said he planned to meet Russian President Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the high-level talks has been suspended indefinitely.
A preliminary get-together by the both countries' top diplomats has been cancelled, as well.
"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," President Trump told the press at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I'll see what transpires."
- Trump states he wished to avoid a 'wasted meeting' after plan for Putin talks shelved
- Letdown in Ukraine's capital as Zelensky leaves Washington without results
The frequently changing meeting is just the latest twist in Trump's attempts to mediate an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the American leader after he arranged a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.
While making remarks in the North African country last week to celebrate that truce deal, the president turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.
"It is essential to get Russia resolved," he declared.
Nonetheless, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success possible for Witkoff and his 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 crucial element to unlocking a deal was Israel's decision to strike representatives of Hamas in Qatar. It was a action that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but gave the president leverage to pressure Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.
Trump benefited from a long record of supporting Israel dating back to his initial presidency, including his decision to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, to alter US policy on the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, in recent times, his support for Israeli defense operations against Iran.
The American leader, actually, is better regarded among Israelis than Netanyahu – a position that gave him special sway over the Israeli leader.
Combine the president's connections in politics and business to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to secure an deal.
In the Ukraine war, on the other hand, the president has significantly reduced influence. Over the past nine months, he has swung between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.
Trump has warned to impose new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to supply the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could harm the world's financial stability and intensify the conflict.
Meanwhile, the US leader has publicly berated Ukraine's president, halting briefly intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the nation - only to then back off in the face of concerned European allies who caution a defeat of Ukraine could destabilise the entire region.
The president loves to tout his ability to sit down and negotiate agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky haven't seemed to move the hostilities any nearer a resolution.
Putin may in fact be using the US leader's wish for a settlement – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a method of influencing him.
In July, Putin agreed to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it seemed probable that Trump would approve on legislative penalties supported by GOP senators. That bill was afterwards delayed.
Recently, as news emerged that the White House was considering seriously sending long-range missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the Russian leader phoned Trump who then promoted the possible meeting in Hungary.
The next day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but left empty-handed after a reportedly strained discussion.
Trump maintained that he was not being played by Putin.
"You know, I have been manipulated throughout my career by skilled operators, and I emerged successfully," he said.
But the president of Ukraine subsequently made note of the sequence of events.
"As soon as the matter of long-range mobility became a little further away for Ukraine – for Ukraine – the Russian side almost automatically became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.
Thus, in a short period, Trump has bounced from considering the idea of sending missiles to Ukraine to planning a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and privately urging the Ukrainian president to cede the entire Donbas region – even territory Russia has been failed to capture.
He has ultimately settled on calling for a ceasefire along present frontlines – something Russia has refused to accept.
During his election campaign last year, Trump vowed that he could resolve the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has since discarded that commitment, saying that ending the war is proving harder than he anticipated.
It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his power – and the difficulty of establishing a framework for peace when neither side desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.
