FILE PHOTO: Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland gestures during a joint news conference on the closing of the seventh round of NAFTA talks in Mexico City, Mexico, March 5, 2018. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido/File Photo

RICHMOND, British Columbia (Reuters) - Mexico and the United States need to resolve complicated bilateral issues before modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) can move forward, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Friday.

Freeland said the three countries had agreed Canada would rejoin the talks once Mexico and the United States resolve bilateral matters. Mexican and U.S. representatives are meeting in Washington.

“Once the bilateral issues get resolved, Canada will be joining the talks to work on both bilateral issues and our trilateral issues,” Freeland told reporters. “And will be happy to do that, once the bilateral US-Mexico issues have been resolved.”