Reports of an impending US-Russia leadership summit have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.
Just days after Donald Trump said he planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest - within two weeks or so - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.
A preliminary get-together by the two nations' top diplomats has been cancelled, too.
I don't want to have a wasted meeting, President Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. I don't want to have a waste of time, so I'll see what happens.
The on-again, off-again summit is just the latest twist in Trump's efforts to broker an end to war in Ukraine – a subject of renewed focus for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.
While making remarks in Egypt last week to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump turned to Steve Witkoff, his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a new request.
We have to get Russia done, he said.
However, the circumstances that aligned to make a Gaza breakthrough possible may be difficult to replicate in a Ukraine war that has been raging for nearing four years.
Less leverage
According to Witkoff, the key to unlocking a deal was Israel's decision to attack Hamas negotiators in Qatar. It was a move that infuriated America's Arab allies but gave Trump leverage to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into making a deal.
Trump benefited from a long record of siding with Israel dating back to his first term in office, including his decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and to change America's position on the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
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 Zelensky, all with little seeming effect.
Trump has threatened to impose new sanctions on Russian energy exports and to provide Ukraine with new long-range weapons. However, he has also recognized that doing so could disrupt the global economy and further escalate the war.
Meanwhile, the president has publicly berated Zelensky, temporarily cutting off intelligence-sharing with Ukraine and suspending arms shipments to the country - only to then back off in the face of concerned European allies who warn that a Ukrainian collapse could destabilize the entire region.
Putin may actually be using Trump's desire for a deal as a means of influencing him.
Last week, as reports spread that the White House was seriously contemplating shipping Tomahawk cruise missiles and Patriot anti-air batteries to Kyiv, the Russian leader called Trump who then touted the possible summit in Budapest.
The next day, Trump hosted Zelensky at the White House but left empty-handed after a reportedly tense meeting.
Trump has finally settled on calling for a ceasefire along current battle lines – something Russia has refused to accept.
On the campaign trail last year, Trump promised that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of hours. He has since abandoned that pledge, saying that ending the war is proving harder than he expected.
This has been a rare acknowledgment of the limits of his power – and the difficulty of finding a framework for peace when neither side wants, or can afford to, give up the fight.
