US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin arrive for a press conference at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on August 15, in Anchorage, Alaska. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

When President Donald Trump hung up the phone after his talk with Russia’s Vladimir Putin last week, he was so convinced there was enough progress made that he announced he was heading soon to Budapest for an in-person summit.

Five days later, the summit was off and new sanctions on Moscow — the first of Trump’s second administration — were on.

What happened in between was a steady realization by the president and top officials that Putin’s stance on ending the war had not significantly shifted from the last time the two met on a US air base in Alaska , according to US officials.

Putin’s c

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