Obama, Castro Shake Hands at Americas Summit in Panama City - Reports

© REUTERS / Panama Presidency/Handout via ReutersU.S. President Barack Obama (L) and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro shake hands as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (R) looks on, before the inauguration of the VII Summit of the Americas in Panama City April 10, 2015
U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro shake hands as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (R) looks on, before the inauguration of the VII Summit of the Americas in Panama City April 10, 2015 - Sputnik International
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US President Obama and Cuban President Castro greeted each other and shook hands at the Seventh Summit of the Americas.

A Cuban gives the thumbs up from his balcony decorated with the US and Cuban flags in Havana - Sputnik International
Obama, Castro to Assess Progress in Normalization of US-Cuba Relations
PANAMA CITY (Sputnik) – US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro have greeted each other at the Seventh Summit of the Americas taking place in Panama City, in a sign of warming US-Cuba relations, Reuters reports.

The informal interaction between US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro right before the opening ceremony of the Summit of the Americas in Panama City was brief and casual, TeleSUR reports.

According to a video aired by the Venezuela-based TV channel, Castro and Obama shook hands and exchanged a few words at the Atlapa Convention Center where the summit is taking place. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and the presidents of Panama, Ecuador and Colombia witnessed the historical greeting.

"At the Summit of the Americas this evening, President Obama and President Castro greeted each other and shook hands," National Security Council Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said on Friday, as quoted by Reuters, which also reported that the pair did not have a substantive conversation, according to an anonymous White House official.

Obama spoke with Castro over the phone on Wednesday prior to leaving for the Seventh Summit of the Americas, which is taking place in Panama on April 10-11. The two are expected to meet on Saturday.

US President Barack Obama spoke by phone with Cuba's leader Raul Castro before leaving for the Summit of the Americas, White House official said in a statement on Friday. - Sputnik International
Obama Speaks With Castro Ahead of Summit of Americas in Panama

On December 17, 2014, US President Barack Obama announced the official normalization of relations with Cuba, including the restoration of diplomatic relations, the lifting of financial, trade and visa restrictions, and the forthcoming decision to exclude Cuba from the list of sponsors of terrorism.

The Summit of the Americas is a gathering of countries from the Western Hemisphere in which policy solutions to urgent regional challenges are addressed.

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