The US hopes it won't need to tighten sanctions against Russia in an attempt to help resolve the Ukrainian conflict, said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"(…) it should be clear to everyone that the United States has tools available to also impose costs on the Russian side of this equation, but we hope it doesn’t come to that," the US foreign policy chief said, commenting on the situation around Ukraine in his remarks to the press on a flight to Saudi Arabia.

The US-Ukrainian talks on resolving the conflict are expected to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia later on Tuesday.

According to Rubio, US President Donald Trump's goal is to bring both sides—Moscow and Kyiv—to the negotiating table in order to end the conflict.

Trump's recent statements about the possibility of further tightening the sanctions on Russia are "a reminder that we understand that the United States has tools at its disposal if in fact this falls apart," noted the US Secretary of State.

"But we’re hoping it doesn’t.  We really do.  We hope it doesn’t reach that point," Rubio added.