The Kremlin  rejected as a “hoax” media reports that US CIA Director William Burns had travelled to Moscow with a secret peace proposal that involved Ukraine ceding a fifth of its territory to Russia.

The Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung’s report, which said Mr Burns had made a secret trip to Moscow last month to put forward the plan on behalf of the White House, has also been dismissed by Washington.

Asked whether William Burns had travelled to Moscow or put forward a plan that involved Ukraine ceding 20% of its territory, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “That whole report is a hoax.”