A recurring meeting can keep a friendship alive long enough for interest to return.

A standing arrangement can keep a friendship alive through a period when neither of you has much to say. Interest fluctuates, life gets crowded, and the recurring meeting maintains the connection until the interest returns, which it often does. Structure carries what enthusiasm cannot.

So do not cancel the regular thing during a flat patch, since the flat patch is precisely what it is for. And if a friendship you value has no structure at all, adding one is more effective than trying to feel closer. The affection is easier to sustain when it is not required to generate every meeting on its own.