Second round of talks between the US and Cuba will focus on the reopening of embassies

Reuters

The United States and Cuba will seek to reach fundamental agreements on Friday for the formal restoration of diplomatic relations during a meeting in Washington as part of the second round of talks between the two countries.

As explained by a senior of the State Department in a telephone press conference, the meeting of this week will seek to accelerate the creation of a political framework to open diplomatic missions to advance other issues of mutual interest.

A factor of discord is the permanence of Cuba in the State Department’s list of countries that sponsor terrorism, and the need whether or not to remove the country from the list before reopening embassies.

“It is important that (the opening of embassies) is not linked to a specific event,” said the source and insisted that talks on the restoration of diplomatic relations must be separated from other aspects.

The State Department said it expects that this Friday future dates can be marked on various topics to be discussed that enable experts from both delegations progress on other issues.