U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says American officials are working “diligently” to try to secure the release of two Canadians detained by China.

He made the remarks during brief comments to reporters shortly after arriving in Ottawa on Thursday morning for his first official visit ahead of the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France this weekend. The plights of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, and how to deal with Chinese aggression more broadly, are expected to be a major focus of the meeting between the leaders.

“Please do know our team is focused on helping those two Canadians be released,” he said.

“China needs to honour the commitments it’s made to the world and it is our expectation they’ll do so. We are working on it diligently.”

Pompeo also stressed the desire to get CUSMA, the renegotiated NAFTA trade deal, ratified.

His comments came after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau highlighted the issue of the detainees moments earlier in his own remarks to reporters.

China detained Kovrig and Spavor on widely condemned claims of endangering national security in December 2018, just days after Canadian border authorities arrested Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou at the behest of the United States.

The next month, the U.S. charged Meng and her company with 23 counts of corporate espionage and violating sanctions on Iran.

China has repeatedly linked the detentions of the Canadians with the Meng arrest.

Meng is fighting extradition to the U.S. in a court battle that could last years.

On Thursday, the Chinese embassy in Ottawa issued a statement saying bilateral ties between Canada and China are suffering “gross difficulties.”

The statement also repeated calls for the release of Meng.

Canadian officials have repeatedly urged the U.S. to do more to advocate for the release of the Canadians and bring pressure to bear on China, since the two were detained at the request of the U.S. and in accordance with the longstanding extradition treaty between Canada and the United States.

Trudeau said the question of what more can be done will be among the issues discussed on Thursday.

“We have a lot of issues just ahead of the G7, lots of global issues,” he said. “We will, of course, be bringing up the plight of the two Canadians in China, both thanking the Americans for their support on that issue and how to move forward.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Pompeo are scheduled to hold a joint press conference on Thursday afternoon where they will likely face further questions about the extent to which the U.S. will advocate for the detained Canadians.

Trudeau is set to depart on Friday for the G7 summit.

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