rubio saudi. Farid Al-Shehri, director-general of the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jeddah branch, greets US Secretary of State Marco Rubio upon his arrival arrival at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, on March 10, 2025. SAUL LOEB/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in Saudi Arabia Monday, where he will hold a high-profile meeting with Ukrainian officials and seek to smooth tensions with Canada at a critical moment in his new role as the nation's top diplomat.
Rubio has been largely overshadowed by Elon Musk and some of President Donald Trump's more controversial Cabinet picks in his first weeks on the job running the State Department.
But the former Florida senator is now increasingly in the spotlight and facing growing pressure to make progress on some of Trump's key foreign policy goals, raising the stakes for his trip to Saudi Arabia and then Canada later in the week.
"He's under pressure" to deliver wins for the administration while also acting as an intermediary who can help allies decipher Trump's motivations, Vivek Astvansh, an expert on U.S.-Canada relations at McGill University, said of Rubio.
In his first stop this week, Rubio will lead the U.S. delegation in talks with top Ukrainian officials in Jeddah, a sign of his prominent role in Trump's push to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also in Saudi Arabia this week, but is not believed to be playing an active role in the talks being held there.
The U.S. delegation also includes National Security Adviser Mike Waltz. Rubio, Waltz and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with their Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia last month in the first round of talks aimed at bringing an end to the war in Ukraine.
Ahead of his return trip to the kingdom, Rubio told reporters that the talks with Ukrainian officials were intended to establish the country's willingness to strike a peace deal.
"We want to listen to see how far they're willing to go, and compare that to what the Russians want, and then see how far apart we truly are," Rubio said.
Ukraine is seeking security demands in exchange for a short-term ceasefire. Russia has not yet signaled what concessions, if any, it's willing to make to reach a temporary pause in the fighting or a permanent end to the three-year-old war.
With both countries seemingly far apart on a deal, analysts said there is little likelihood Rubio can achieve any kind of a breakthrough with Ukraine this week.
Rubio is widely seen among lawmakers in Congress and diplomats abroad as a serious and capable foreign policy hand. His tenure on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations helped him win a unanimous, 99-0 confirmation vote last month — a stark contrast to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other Cabinet members with limited or no government experience who faced opposition from Republicans and Democrats alike.
Rubio also reportedly confronted Musk in a meeting with Trump last week, another sign of his growing stature in the administration. Few other officials have taken on the tech billionaire and close Trump ally as Musk heads an aggressive initiative to slash federal jobs and spending.
But despite his prominence in the administration it's still unclear how much influence he'll wield in final decisions taken by the U.S. on Ukraine, complicating his bargaining power in the talks, said Thomas Graham, a former National Security Council adviser.
"The question the Ukrainians are asking, and the Russians are asking, is who's really making the decisions, and how influential is Rubio?" Graham, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told Newsweek.
A spokesperson for the State Department told Newsweek that both Ukraine and Russia would have to make "tough decisions" to end the war. "Participation in negotiations will quickly make apparent if both parties are serious about peace. It is in neither side's interests to delay serious participation," the spokesperson said.
Ukraine is just one issue in a packed portfolio for Rubio. After the meetings in Jeddah, Rubio heads to Canada in a moment of unprecedented tension between Ottawa and Washington over Trump's proposed tariffs and repeated suggestions that Canada become America's 51st state.
Senior Canadian officials "take Rubio very seriously. They can't resolve the concerns with Trump [directly]. Rubio is their best bet," Astvansh said.
Mark Carney's election Sunday to replace outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as head of the Liberal party offers both countries an opportunity for a reset, Astvansh added. "I'm hoping Carney will talk with Rubio and help him understand that this drama is hurting consumers and businesses on both sides" of the border.
Rubio's portfolio also includes securing greater U.S. control over the Panama Canal, a top issue for Trump and one the president singled out in his joint address to Congress last week. Trump gave Rubio a shout-out, but left little doubt that the secretary of state is expected to deliver results.
"Good luck, Marco," Trump said after promising to take back the waterway. "Now we know who to blame if anything goes wrong."
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This story was originally published March 10, 2025 at 5:33 PM.