US Secretary of State Marco Rubio set off on Sunday to fly to Saudi Arabia for talks with Ukraine, as President Donald Trump decides whether to relent on a freeze in military and intelligence support.

Rubio will then travel on to Group of Seven (G7) talks in Canada, making him the first major US official to visit since Trump returned to office, launched a trade war the neighboring country and mocked its sovereignty.

In three days of talks in Jeddah, Rubio will discuss how to "advance the president's goal to end the Russia-Ukraine war," said State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.

The talks in Jeddah on Tuesday are expected to involve Rubio and Trump's national security advisor, Mike Waltz, with Zelensky's national security advisor and foreign and defense ministers.

"The fact that they are coming here at senior levels is a good indication to us that they want to sit down and they're ready to move forward," a senior State Department official said.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky is........

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