US, Cuba to hold embassy talks

Reuters

15 May, 2015, 16:42

Update: 15 May, 2015, 16:55

Cuba's President Raul Castro (L) stands with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama before the inauguration of the VII Summit of the Americas in Panama City 10 April 2015. Photo: Reuters

Washington: The United States and and Cuban negotiators will meet next week to discuss the reopening of embassies in each other’s capitals as part of efforts to restore diplomatic ties, the State Department said on Thursday.

The talks will be held on 21 May in Washington, the State Department said in a statement.

The meeting will focus on practical measures needed to reopen embassies in Havana and Washington, the official added.

The talks are the first since President Barack Obama announced on 14 April that he had decided to remove Cuba from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, a step that Cuba had insisted on before agreeing to reopen embassies.

Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced on 17 December they would work to restore diplomatic ties, which Washington severed in 1961 two years after the Cuba Revolution that ousted a pro-US regime and launched a socialist republic.