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United States President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart President Raul Castro shook hands on Friday at a summit in Panama, a symbolic gesture as the pair seek to restore ties between the Cold War foes. They were sharing a stage and took part in a gala dinner at the opening of the VII Summit of the Americas.
A White House official described the handshake as an informal interaction, with no substantiative conversation.
“At the Summit of the Americas, President Obama and President Castro greeted each other and shook hands," National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said in a statement.
They are expected to meet again on Saturday and talk about their efforts to restore full diplomatic relations and boost trade and travel between the two countries.
In December last year, Obama and Castro had thanked Pope Francis for helping broker a historic deal to begin normalising relations between the US and Cuba, after 18 months of secret talks over prisoner releases brought a sudden end to decades of cold war hostility.