DOHA, May 14. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Presidential Special Envoy Steven Witkoff have joined the delegation accompanying Donald Trump on his state visit to Qatar, a TASS correspondent reports.

Rubio and Witkoff came at the office of Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani prior to the US president’s arrival. Trump’s limousine left the airport and headed toward the Arab head of state’s office. Trump and Sheikh Tamim are expected to hold private talks first, followed by a ceremony to sign bilateral documents.

At an investment forum in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Trump announced that Rubio and other US officials would take part in the talks on Ukraine scheduled for May 15 in Istanbul. A White House spokesman later clarified to reporters that Rubio, Witkoff and US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg would travel to Istanbul for the negotiations.

Trump has become the first US president to visit Qatar in more than 20 years. In 2022, the emirate was granted the status of a major non-NATO ally of the United States. Qatar is home to the largest US airbase in the Middle East, Al Udeid, which hosts the operational headquarters of the US Central Command (CENTCOM).

On May 11, ABC News reported, citing sources, that Qatar planned to give Trump a Boeing 747-8 with an estimated value of $400 million. If finalized, it could become one of the most expensive gifts ever received by the US from a foreign country. Ali Al Ansari, a spokesman for the Qatari Embassy in Washington, told Politico that the emirate’s Defense Ministry and the Pentagon were discussing the potential transfer of the plane for temporary use by the US president, though a final decision is yet to be made.