Cuba is entering a new era in diplomatic relations. At the start of 2016, President Raul Castro became the first Cuban leader to visit France in 21 years, while in 2015 the island nation restored ties with the US.

Raul’s brother, the-then President Fidel Castro, met France’s last Socialist President, François Mitterand in Paris in 1995.

Among Raul Castro’s 2016 delegation was Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla. Euronews journalist Luis Carballo interviewed him in Paris.

Luis Carballo, euronews

Did Washington give you a date for the end of sanctions on Cuba. Do you think you’ll know before Obama leaves the White House?

Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Cuban Foreign Minister

“There won’t be a normalisation of relations between the US and Cuba without a complete end to the embargo. It’s a decision that has to go through Congress. In the meantime, the US President has vast executive powers that he could use to substantially modify the application of the embargo.”

French Presi