WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - U.S. President Barack Obama met with Cuban President Raul Castro on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
A White House statement said Obama and Castro discussed recent advances in relations between the U.S. and Cuba as well as additional steps each government can take to deepen bilateral cooperation.
The meeting between the two leaders was seen as a symbolic steep in the ongoing efforts to normalize American-Cuban relations.
During the meeting, Obama highlighted regulatory changes that will allow more Americans to travel to and do business with Cuba, the White House said.
Meanwhile, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla said Castro called for lifting the trade embargo against Cuba and returning the land occupied by the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay.
Obama and Castro have met before, but the meeting marked the first between the leaders of the two countries on American soil since the Cuban revolution.
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