Cuba, US to hold last meet before Trump takes office

Cuba and the US on Wednesday will hold the final round of talks on political and economic ties before President-elect Donald Trump assumes office next month.

Delegations from both the countries will gather here for the fifth meeting of a bilateral commission to normalise ties, Xinhua news agency cited Cuban Foreign Ministry as saying on Tuesday.

The delegations "will discuss the results achieved since the creation of the bilateral commission in August last year as a mechanism for normalising ties between the two nations", the ministry said.

Both the sides will define "new steps" for the following weeks to continue strengthening ties.

"The bilateral agenda includes a high-level visit, new cooperation agreements in areas of common interest, as well as technical meetings and talks on various issues," said the ministry.

The meeting comes on the heels of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro's death and Trump's recent remarks to the effect that he will reverse the historic rapprochement between the US and Cuba, which is considered to be the main legacy of outgoing President Barack Obama.

"If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban-American people and the US as a whole, I will terminate deal," he said.

While the US-led trade embargo against Cuba remains in place, the Cold War-ties have thawed in the past two years with increasing exchanges between the two governments and peoples, and relaxing certain restrictions.

The two countries in 2015 restored diplomatic ties and reopened their respective embassies.

--IANS

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