Why Donald Trump Achieved a Major Step in the Middle East But Faces Challenges Regarding Vladimir Putin Over the Ukraine Conflict

Accounts of an upcoming US-Russia leadership meeting have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

Only a few days after President Trump announced he intended to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been put off without a new date.

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

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," Donald Trump informed the press at the executive mansion on a recent weekday. "I don't want a waste of time, so I will observe what happens."

• Trump says he did not want a 'unproductive session' after plan for Putin talks shelved
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky departs White House without results

The frequently changing summit is another development in the president's efforts to mediate an end to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement in Gaza.

While making remarks in the North African country last week to commemorate that ceasefire agreement, Trump addressed Steve Witkoff, with a new request.

"It is essential to get Russia resolved," he said.

Nonetheless, the circumstances that aligned to make a Middle East success possible for Witkoff and his team may be difficult to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for almost four years.

Less Leverage

According to the lead negotiator, the crucial element to achieving a deal was the Israeli government's decision to strike Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but gave the president bargaining power to pressure Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.

The US president gained from a history of supporting Israel dating back to his first term, including his choice to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, to alter US policy on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his support for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, in fact, is more popular among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a position that provided him with special sway over the Israeli leader.

Add in the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a abundant negotiating strength to secure an deal.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, the president has much less influence. In recent months, he has vacillated between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

Trump has warned to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports 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 intensify the war.

Meanwhile, the president has publicly berated Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with the country and suspending weapon deliveries to the nation - then to back off in the face of concerned European allies who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the entire region.

Trump loves to tout his skill to meet and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to advance the war any closer to a peaceful end.

Putin may actually be exploiting Trump's desire for a deal – and belief in direct negotiations - as a method of manipulating him.

In July, Russia's leader consented to a high-level meeting in Alaska at the time when it seemed probable that Trump would sign off on legislative penalties backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

Recently, as reports spread that the White House was seriously contemplating shipping long-range missiles and air defense systems to Ukraine, the president of Russia phoned the US president who then promoted the possible meeting in Hungary.

The next day, Trump hosted Ukraine's leader at the White House, but left without agreements after a reportedly strained discussion.

The US leader maintained that he was not being manipulated by Putin.

"You know, I have been manipulated all my life by skilled operators, and I emerged successfully," he remarked.

However the president of Ukraine later commented on the sequence of events.

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

So, in a matter of days, Trump has bounced from considering the idea of sending missiles to Ukraine to planning a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and confidentially urging the Ukrainian president to surrender the entire Donbas region – including territory Russian forces has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately decided on advocating a ceasefire along present frontlines – something Russia has refused to accept.

During his election campaign previously, the candidate promised that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a very short time. He has subsequently abandoned that pledge, saying that ending the war is turning out more difficult than he anticipated.

It has been a rare acknowledgement of the constraints of his authority – and the challenge of finding a peace plan when neither side desires, or can afford to, cease hostilities.