Accounts of an impending US-Russia presidential meeting have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.
Just days after Donald Trump said he intended to confer with Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital - "within two weeks or so" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.
A preliminary get-together by the two nations' top diplomats has been called off, as well.
"I prefer not to have a wasted meeting," President Trump told reporters at the executive mansion on Tuesday afternoon. "I don't want a waste of time, so I will observe what transpires."
The on-again, off-again meeting is another twist in Trump's efforts to broker an end to hostilities in the Eastern European nation – a subject of renewed focus for the US president after he orchestrated a ceasefire and hostage release agreement in the Palestinian territory.
During a speech in the North African country last week to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump turned to Steve Witkoff, with a fresh directive.
"It is essential to get Russia done," he said.
Nonetheless, the conditions that aligned to make a Middle East success achievable for Witkoff and his team may be challenging to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for nearing four years.
Per Witkoff, the crucial element to unlocking a agreement was the Israeli government's decision to strike representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that angered US partners in the Arab world but provided the president bargaining power to compel Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.
Trump benefited from a history of siding with the Israeli state since his first term, including his choice to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, to change US policy on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and, in recent times, his backing for Israel's military campaign against Iran.
The US president, in fact, is more popular among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a position that gave him special sway over the nation's head.
Add in the president's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the region, and he had a wealth of diplomatic muscle to force an agreement.
Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, Trump has much less leverage. In recent months, he has vacillated between efforts to pressure the Russian president and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.
The US leader has threatened to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to provide Ukraine with advanced missile systems. But he has also acknowledged that such actions could disrupt the world's financial stability and intensify the conflict.
At the same time, the president has publicly berated Ukraine's president, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and pausing arms shipments to the country - only to then retreat in the wake of worried European partners who caution a Ukrainian collapse could disrupt the whole area.
The president loves to tout his skill to sit down and hammer out agreements, but his personal discussions with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders have not appeared to move the war any closer to a resolution.
The Russian president may actually be exploiting Trump's desire for a deal – and belief in in-person deal-making - as a means of influencing him.
In July, Russia's leader agreed to a summit in the US state just as it appeared likely that Trump would approve on congressional sanctions package supported by GOP senators. That legislation was subsequently put on hold.
Recently, as reports spread that the US administration was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Ukraine, the president of Russia phoned the US president who then touted the possible meeting in Budapest.
The following day, Trump welcomed Ukraine's leader at the White House, but departed empty-handed after a allegedly strained discussion.
The US leader maintained that he was not being played by Putin.
"As you are aware, I've been played throughout my career by skilled operators, and I came out really well," he remarked.
However the Ukrainian leader later commented on the timeline of developments.
"As soon as the issue of long-range mobility became a less accessible for us – for our nation – the Russian side almost automatically became less engaged in diplomacy," he said.
So, in a matter of days, the president has shifted from entertaining the prospect of sending missiles to Ukraine to planning a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and confidentially urging the Ukrainian president to surrender all of Donbas – including land Russia has been failed to capture.
He has ultimately decided on advocating a truce along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has rejected.
On the campaign trail last year, Trump vowed that he could resolve the Ukraine war in a very short time. He has since discarded that pledge, admitting that ending the war is proving more difficult than he anticipated.
It has been a uncommon admission of the constraints of his power – and the challenge of finding a peace plan when both parties wants, or is able to, give up the fight.
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