WASHINGTON
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez met Thursday night in Panama ahead of the Summit of the Americas.
It was the highest-level meeting between the two states since 1959 when Fidel Castro met then Vice-President Richard Nixon.
"Secretary Kerry and Cuban Foreign Minister Rodriguez had a lengthy and very constructive discussion this evening," read a statement from the U.S. State Department. "The two agreed they made progress and that we would continue to work to resolve outstanding issues."
The meeting took place amid discussions in the U.S. over removing Cuba from the U.S. list of states sponsoring global terrorism. The State Department has reportedly submitted its recommendation to the White House to take Cuba off the list.
Cuba is still one of four countries accused by the U.S. of supporting global terrorism, alongside Iran, Sudan and Syria.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro are set to meet Friday in Panama during the summit, where they may announce the latest developments for normalizing relations between the two countries after more than half a century of cold war hostility.
Cuba and the U.S. had previously held three rounds of talks aimed at reestablishing relations, the most recent of which concluded in the middle of March without any indication from either side about progress on key issues.
While Washington wanted its embassy in Cuba to be reopened in time for the summit, Cuba first asked to be removed from the U.S. terrorism list, which prevents those listed on it from accessing the U.S. banking system and businesses.
The Cold War foes announced last December that they would work to normalize relations.
In a show of good faith, the U.S. and Cuba swapped prisoners, including American Alan Gross from a Cuban prison where he was held for five years.
