Cuba expects Trump administration to continue thawing ties

Cuba hopes the next U.S. government headed by President-elect Donald Trump will continue to build a "respectful" relationship with Cuba, a Cuban official said on Tuesday.

"Cuba would expect the new U.S. government to take into account these (positive) results that we have achieved" in almost two years after the two countries decided to end more than half a century of enmity and restore diplomatic ties, said Josefina Vidal, director general of U.S. affairs at the Cuban Foreign Ministry.

Vidal made the remarks at a press conference following the fifth meeting of the bilateral commission between Washington and Havana.

The meeting took place at a subtle time for the Cuba-U.S. relationship, when Trump threatened to "terminate" the deal with Cuba if Havana was not prepared to renegotiate certain terms right after the death of former President Fidel Castro.

The U.S. president-elect, who considered Obama's policy "weak", has said on several occasions that he would seek a "better deal" with Cuba.

Cuba believes the rapprochement benefits both countries and meets mutual interests.

According to Vidal, Cuba intends to conclude most of the issues the two nations have been negotiating before Jan. 20, the inauguration day for Trump.

The official said Cuba hopes to continue the bilateral commission meeting with the Trump administration. Established in 2015, the meeting has served as an important negotiation channel between the United States and Cuba.

Despite the thaw between the two nations, Washington maintains its trade embargo against the island. Obama has insisted the embargo should be lifted, but only the U.S. Congress can lift it, and the Republican leadership is not expected to allow such a move anytime soon.

Cuba and the United States normalized diplomatic relations in July 2015. Endi