Communication channels between Washington and the Kremlin remain open, it has been confirmed.
Speaking at an event in New York, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, said it was in the "interests" of the US to remain in contact with Moscow, but officials are "clear eyed with who we are dealing with", the BBC reports.
It comes as the White House refuses to deny reports that Mr Sullivan had been in talks with Russia to stop any potential plans for nuclear weapons to be used in Ukraine.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Mr Sullivan has held confidential discussions with his Russian counterpart, Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev, and senior Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, over recent months.
Senior officials told the paper the pair had looked at ways they could prevent nuclear escalation in Ukraine, but had not discussed how the war could be brought to an end.
Last month, Mr Sullivan said any use of nuclear weapons would have "catastrophic consequences for Russia". Speaking to US broadcaster NBC, he said that senior officials had "spelled out" in private discussions how the US would respond if such weapons were used.
US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson refused to confirm the story, telling The Wall Street Journal that "people claim a lot of things". Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov accused Western newspapers of "publishing numerous hoaxes".
But on Monday, White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said the US reserved the right to hold talks with Russia.
At the New York event, Mr Sullivan said the Biden administration had "an obligation to pursue accountability" and pledged to work with international partners to "hold the perpetrators of grave and grotesque war crimes in Ukraine responsible for what they have done".
He added: "I was just in Kyiv on Friday. and I had the opportunity to meet with President [Volodymyr] Zelensky and my counterpart Andriy Yermak, with the military leadership and also to get a briefing on just what level of death and devastation has been erupted by Putin's war on that country," Mr Sullivan said.
Fears have grown over recent months that an increasingly desperate Russia could start using nuclear weapons to try and defend four regions of eastern and southern Ukraine it has illegally annexed.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has invoked its wartime martial laws to seize control of the assets of five strategically important companies.
Some of the businesses - including two energy firms and companies that manufacture vehicles, engines and transformers - have links to oligarch Vyacheslav Bohuslayev, who was arrested on suspicion of collaborating with Russia.
Ukraine President Zelensky said the move would help Ukraine's defence sector meet the needs of the military, which is defending its territories in southern and eastern Ukraine.
