Reports surfaced on Wednesday that the US and Russia had prepared a new proposed framework to end the war, requiring major concessions from Ukraine.
Neither Washington nor Moscow have officially confirmed the plan.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "contacts" had taken place with the US, but no "consultations or negotiations" were happening.
The Global News Podcast spoke to the Russia editor at BBC Monitoring, Vitaly Shevchenko.
Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1rbfUog
For more news, analysis and features visit: www.bbc.com/news
#BBCNews