José Raúl Mulino, Panama’s President, announced Thursday that he would not negotiate with the United States over ownership of the Panama Canal, and emphasized that he would rather discuss immigration and the mitigation of drug trafficking during U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s upcoming visit to Panama.

Rubio’s visit comes with the undertone of U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments in regards to the canal. He has on several occasions mentioned ambitions to take control of the waterway.

Trump has recently made misleading claims concerning the canal’s ownership and the alleged mistreatment of U.S. vessels. He reported that U.S. ships were being “severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form,” and pressed that “above all, China is operating the canal.”

Trump hasn’t rejected the idea of using military force to take the canal, and has alluded to possibly threatening Panama to gain control over the route.

Mulino tried to clarify that Panama maintains operation of the canal and China does not own it, but that a Hong Kong consortium does own ports on both ends of the canal. Along with that, he clarified his stance on speculative United States proposals. “It’s impossible, I can’t negotiate. That is done, the canal belongs to Panama,” he said definitively.

Mulino has made clear that the country does not wish to relinquish the canal over to the U.S., despite the threats made by Trump. The President of Panama wishes for his country to stay independent, once declaring that “every square meter of the canal belongs to Panama and will continue to belong” to Panama.

Mulino wishes to cover only matters of immigration and drug trafficking during his approaching meeting with Marco Rubio on Sunday, which will include a visit to the canal.