New Delhi, June 7 -- The back-room contact between Moscow and Kiev is more active than either capital has let on. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said Sunday that Russia maintains both open and undisclosed communication channels with the Ukrainian government - a statement that cuts against the public posture of total breakdown following weeks of halted trilateral talks with Washington.

Ushakov offered no detail on what the closed channels carry or who operates them, but his willingness to confirm their existence at all represents a departure from the studied silence Moscow has maintained since the Geneva talks stalled in February.

The disclosure came two days after Vladimir Putin used a press engagement at the St. Petersburg International Eco...