How Trump Secured a Breakthrough in the Middle East But Struggles With Vladimir Putin Concerning Ukraine

Reports of an impending American-Russian leadership meeting have been greatly exaggerated, apparently.

Only a few days after President Trump said he planned to meet Russia's leader Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the high-level talks has been put off without a new date.

A initial get-together by the both countries' top diplomats has been called off, as well.

"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," President Trump informed the press at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a waste of time, so I will observe what transpires."

• Donald Trump states he did not want a 'wasted meeting' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin postponed
• Disappointment in Ukraine's capital as President Zelensky leaves White House empty-handed

The on-again, off-again summit is another twist in the president's attempts to broker an conclusion to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a truce and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in the North African country last week to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, the president addressed his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

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

Nonetheless, the conditions that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough possible for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to duplicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for almost four years.

Less Leverage

Per Witkoff, the crucial element to achieving a agreement was Israel's move to strike Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated America's Arab allies but gave the president leverage to pressure Israel's leader Netanyahu into making a deal.

Trump benefited from a long record of supporting the Israeli state dating back to his first term, encompassing his decision to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The American leader, in fact, is better regarded among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a position that gave him special sway 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 abundant negotiating strength to secure an deal.

In the Ukraine war, by contrast, Trump has much less leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between attempts to strong-arm Putin and then the Ukrainian leader, all with little seeming effect.

The US leader has warned to impose new sanctions on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide the Ukrainian forces with new long-range weapons. But he has also acknowledged that doing so could harm the world's financial stability and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the US leader has publicly berated Ukraine's president, halting briefly information exchange with Ukraine and pausing weapon deliveries to the country - only to then retreat in the face of concerned European allies who caution a defeat of Ukraine could disrupt the entire region.

The president loves to tout his skill to meet and hammer out agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders haven't seemed to move the war any nearer a resolution.

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

In July, Putin agreed to a high-level meeting in the US state at the time when it appeared likely that Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by Senate Republicans. That legislation was afterwards delayed.

Recently, as news emerged that the US administration was seriously contemplating shipping long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the Russian leader called the US president who then promoted the potential summit in Hungary.

The following day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the executive residence, but departed without agreements after a allegedly tense meeting.

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

"You know, I've been played all my life by the best of them, and I came out really well," he said.

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

"As soon as the issue of advanced weaponry became a little further away for us – for our nation – Russia almost automatically became less interested in diplomacy," he stated.

So, in a matter of days, Trump has shifted from entertaining the prospect of providing weapons to the Eastern European country to planning a Budapest summit with Russia's leader and confidentially urging Zelensky to cede all of Donbas – including territory Russia has been failed to capture.

He has finally decided on advocating a ceasefire along current battle lines – a proposal Russia has refused to accept.

During his election campaign previously, Trump vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that commitment, admitting that ending the war is proving harder than he expected.

It has been a uncommon admission of the constraints of his authority – and the challenge of finding a framework for peace when both parties wants, or can afford to, cease hostilities.