The White House is calling the detentions of two Canadians in China unlawful and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump have agreed to continue to seek their release, officials said Monday. China grabbed the Canadians in apparent retaliation for the arrest of a top Chinese tech executive last month. Trudeau spoke to Trump in a phone call Monday.

The White House hasn’t spoken publicly about the detained Canadians until now. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a State Department spokesman previously called for their release. “The Prime Minister thanked the President for the strong statements of support by the United States in response to the arbitrary detention of two Canadians in China.

“President Trump spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today, during which the two discussed the unlawful detention of two Canadian citizens in China as well as bilateral trade issues,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.

The Chinese detained Canadian ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig and entrepreneur Michael Spavor last month on vague allegations of “engaging in activities that endanger the national security” of China. The arrests came after Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, was arrested in Canada on Dec.

Justin Trudeau says “politicizing” the issue of three Canadians detained in China might prove counterproductive. On Wednesday the prime minister said the most recent detention doesn’t appear to “fit the pattern” of the previous two.

Trudeau and Trump spoke about the US extradition request and “they reaffirmed the importance of respecting judicial independence and the rule of law,” Trudeau’s office said. Trump previously said he might intervene in the Huawei case if it would help clinch a trade agreement with China, upending US efforts to separate the court proceeding from US-China trade talks and contradicting Canadian officials who said the arrest was not political.