U.S., Cuba not expected to re-open embassies before regional summit: Obama aide

The United States and Cuba are not expected to re-open embassies before a regional summit slated for April 10-11, an aide to U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday.

"I would not anticipate that we will be formalizing the opening of embassies in advance of the summit," Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser told reporters via teleconference, referring to the Summit of the Americas to be held in Panama.

"When you have two countries that haven't really spoken to each other like this in over 50 years, you have a lot of issues to work through as you aim to open embassies," Rhodes said.

In the most sweeping change in the U.S.-Cuba relations in over five decades, Obama announced in December his plans to normalize ties with Cuba. The U.S. severed its diplomatic ties with Cuba in 1961 and has imposed an embargo on the island country ever since.

Washington and Havana have held three rounds of talks on restoring diplomatic ties and re-opening embassies in past months. In late February, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Roberta Jacobson expressed optimism that the two sides could re- open embassies before the Summit of the Americas.

Cuba's inclusion in the U.S. blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism since 1982 is one major sticking point in the talks between the two sides. In announcing the shift in Cuban policy in December, Obama instructed Secretary of State John Kerry to review Cuba's designation.

On Tuesday, Rhodes said the review is "nearing its conclusion", but he did not predict the timing.

"We expect that it's likely in the final stages. But we don't control the timing; the State Department does," Rhodes said.