SHANNON, Ireland, March 12 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of

State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said the issue of how the United

States is going to "take over Canada" will not be discussed at a

gathering of G7 foreign ministers due to take place in Canada on

Thursday.

When asked by reporters about President Donald Trump's

comments on making Canada the 51st U.S. state, Rubio said

Washington is working on a number of things with Canada.

"We're going to be focused in G7 on all of those things.

That's what the meeting is about. It is not a meeting about how

we're going to take over Canada," he said.