Peskov told Vesti reporter Pavel Zarubin that Moscow takes account of statements from Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the US having "taken a side" in the Ukraine conflict. "Naturally, team members have different perspectives. Some have been making sincere attempts to contribute to resolving the conflict, others have a different view," he added.
On the same day, aide to the president of Russia in charge of foreign policy Yury Ushakov revealed that Russia maintains closed channels of communication with Ukraine and that the two sides have had open contacts in previous rounds of negotiations.
Responding to reporter Zarubin about a Russian businessman's plan to travel to Kiev to relay information from Moscow, Ushakov acknowledged that Russia has both public and secret channels of communication with the Kyiv authorities.
"We maintain both open and private contacts with the Kiev regime," said the Russian presidential aide. Although he declined to reveal his identity, Ushakov said the person in question is a fairly well-known businessman.
