WASHINGTON
A third round of US-Cuba talks geared toward restoring diplomatic relations has ended, officials said Tuesday, without any indication from either side if progress was made on key issues.
Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson led the U.S. delegation while Josefina Vidal, the Cuban foreign ministry’s chief of U.S. affairs, led Cuba’s team.
“At the end of the meeting, which took place in a professional environment, the two delegations agreed to maintain communication in the future as part of the process,” the Cuban foreign ministry said in a statement.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday that “the discussion yesterday was positive and constructive, and was held in an atmosphere of mutual respect.”
“They certainly made progress in their discussions,” she added while stopping short of providing specifics.
The State Department said last Friday that negotiations would center around removing limits to the number and movements of diplomatic staff in each country.
They had previously held the first round of talks in Havana in January after U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced a landmark agreement to work toward normalizing relations. A second round was held in Washington last month during which both sides voiced optimism about the negotiations.
“We believe there will be many more discussions,” Psaki said after the most recent round of talks.
The U.S. and Cuba will meet again at the Summit of the Americas in Panama April 10-11. Obama and Castro are likely to meet at the regional gathering.
Diplomatic relations were severed more than 50 years ago in 1961.
