MOSCOW/NEW DELHI: Russian President Vladimir Putin sprinkled some cold water on U.S. hopes for a deal on Ukraine when he said that some proposals in a U.S. plan to end the war in Ukraine were unacceptable to the Kremlin.

U.S. President Donald Trump had begun the most intense diplomatic push to stop the fighting between Russia and Ukraine that started nearly four years ago. However, Putin's main demands are hard to reconcile, especially over whether Ukraine must give up land to Russia and how it can be kept safe from any future aggression by Moscow.

Speaking to the India Today television channel before he landed on December 4 in New Delhi for a state visit, Putin said his five-hour talks with Witkoff and Kushner two days earlier were "necessary" and "useful," but also "difficult work," and some proposals were unacceptable.

"We had to go through practically every point, which is why it took so much time," he said. "It was a meaningful, particular, and substantive conversation. Sometimes we said, ‘Yes, we can discuss this, but with that one we cannot agree.'"

Trump believed that Witkoff and Kushner left the marathon session confident that Putin wanted to end the war. "Their impression was very strongly that he'd like to make a deal," he added.

Putin said the initial 28-point peace proposal from the US was trimmed to 27 and split into four packages. He refused to elaborate on what Russia could accept or reject, and none of the other officials involved offered details of the talks.

The Russian leader praised Trump's peace efforts, noting that "achieving consensus among conflicting parties is no easy task."

However, he was confident that Russia would take all of the eastern Donetsk region. "All this boils down to one thing: Either we take back these territories by force, or eventually Ukrainian troops withdraw," he said.

European leaders, left on the sidelines by Washington as U.S. officials engaged directly with Moscow and Kyiv, have accused Putin of feigning interest in Trump's peace drive.

French President Emmanuel Macron met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing, hoping to involve him in pressuring Russia to a ceasefire. Xi, however, did not respond to France's call, but said that "China supports all efforts that work towards peace."