OTTAWA - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday said he expects the United States to "respect Canadian sovereignty" after media reported that US officials had met with a group advocating for the separation of the province of Alberta from Canada.

Speaking at a press conference after a meeting with the country's premiers, Carney addressed the issue when asked about the meetings between US officials and the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP), a group pushing for a referendum on the province's independence.

"I expect the US administration to respect Canadian sovereignty," Carney said, adding that the topic of separatism has not come up in his conversations with US President Donald Trump.

The prime minister's comments echoed those of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who also spoke at the press conference on Thursday. "I would expect that the US administration would respect Canadian sovereignty and that they would confine their discussion about Alberta's democratic process to Albertans and to Canadians," Smith said.

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She mentioned she would direct her government's representative in Washington to convey her concerns to the US administration.

Other provincial leaders have also rebuked the meetings between US officials and the Albertan separatist group, with British Columbia Premier David Eby terming them as "treason".

"To go to a foreign country and to ask for assistance in breaking up Canada, there's an old-fashioned word for that, and that word is treason," Eby told reporters on Thursday.

The controversy arose after the Financial Times reported that leaders of APP had met with US State Department officials in Washington several times since April last year.

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The group is reportedly seeking another meeting to request a $500 billion credit facility to support the province in the event of a successful independence vote. No such referendum is currently planned.