The US State Department says Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about the situation in Ukraine.



It says they also agreed to continue working towards restoring US-Russia communications, following the meeting in Saudi Arabia.



During the phone call, Rubio informed Lavrov of the United States' military operations against the Iran-backed Houthis.



Rubio reportedly emphasized that continued Houthi attacks on US military and commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea will not be tolerated.



While the United States is making efforts to negotiate a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, it is believed to be trying to keep its attacks on Houthis from souring its relationship with Russia, which has strong political and military ties with Iran.



Trump said on social media on Saturday that the series of meetings on the ceasefire in Ukraine were very productive.



He added, "From there, things went quickly and efficiently, and all signs seem to be, hopefully, very good."