WASHINGTON
Cuba and the United States said Friday that progress has been made toward restoring diplomatic relations, but no agreement have been reached on re-establishing embassies.
"We have continued to make progress", said the U.S.’s top diplomatic for the Western hemisphere, Roberta Jacobson, adding that after five months of progress "we are much closer to reestablishing relations and reopening embassies".
One of the biggest obstacles to reaching an agreement is the U.S.’s demand that the its diplomats be able to travel outside of the Cuban capital, but Cuba wants to limit diplomatic mobilization to within Havana.
Cuba and the U.S. had previously held three rounds of talks aimed at re-establishing relations, the most recent of which concluded in the middle of March.
In another show of warming relations between the two nations, U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro held met in Panama in mid April – the first time leaders of the Cold War foes met in decades.
While Washington’s priorities lie in the re-establishment of its embassy in Cuba, the Cuban government first wants to be removed from the U.S. terrorism list, which prevents those listed on it from accessing the U.S. banking system and businesses.
Cuba can be removed from the list as early as May 29.
The U.S. sounded optimistic after two days of talks in Washington. “We are confident that when we get to an agreement, our embassy will be able to function so that our officers can do their job as they do worldwide," said Jacobson.
