Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to signal that he was open to ceasefire talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky amid pressure from President Donald Trump's administration to reach a deal.

“We need to sort this out,” Putin told a Russian state TV reporter Monday (April 21) via NBC News. “Maybe even bilaterally.”

A senior U.S. official had previously told NBC News that this week would be "critically important" in securing a truce between Russia and Ukraine in the war that has gone on for three years since Putin initially launched an invasion in February 2022. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appeared to deflect responsibility to Ukraine, claiming it "must attempt steps to clear the way" for ceasefire talks and adding that Putin "has repeatedly spoken about his readiness to resolve the issue through negotiations."

Trump, who will be in office for 100 days as of next week, promised to end the war in Ukraine on his first day and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently said that the president would walk away from attempting to broker a Russia-Ukraine peace deal within the coming days unless there is clear evidence that progress can be made soon.

“We’re not going to continue with this endeavor for weeks and months on end. So we need to determine very quickly now, and I’m talking about a matter of days whether or not this is doable in the next few weeks,” Rubio said in Paris after meeting with leaders from Ukraine and other European countries on April 18) via the New York Post. “The president feels very strongly about that. He has dedicated a lot of time and energy to this…this is important, but there are a lot of other really important things going on that deserves just as much, if not more attention.”

Rubio's warning came hours after progress appeared to be made as Trump announced that he was expected to sign a deal with Kyiv next week giving the U.S. access to its minerals on April 17. The president had previously claimed that Ukraine "may not survive" its war with Russia regardless of whether the United States continues its support during an interview with FOX News' Maria Bartiromo on March 9.

“Well, it may not survive anyway,” Trump said while defending his decision to decrease support for Ukraine, despite concerns from other European allies.

“We have some weaknesses with Russia,” he added. “It takes two. Look, it was not going to happen — that war and it happened. So now we’re stuck with this mess.”

CIA director John Ratcliffe also previously confirmed that most intelligence sharing with Ukraine had been paused and the Trump administration stopped aid to Ukraine following a heated exchange between the president, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.

Trump claimed that Zelensky was "gambling with World War III" during a back and forth exchange as the rare earth minerals deal the two world leaders were supposed to sign fell through when the Ukrainian president was asked to leave the White House. Trump later claimed Zelensky could come back "when he is ready for Peace" in a post shared on his Truth Social account.

Mike McConnell