The ongoing high-level talks on the resumption of diplomatic ties between the US and Cuba is among significant steps towards a new period in the two countries’ relationship, Foreign Ministry’s Deputy Spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said.

She made the statement in response to queries about Vietnam’s stance on the ongoing talks between the two nations at a regular press briefing in Hanoi on January 22.

Cuban President Raul Castro announced that his country is normalising its relations with the US after 53 years of interruption on December 17, 2014.

The decision was made after a series of secret high-level negotiations between the two sides became public, including a nearly one-hour telephone conversation between President Raul Castro and his US counterpart Barack Obama.

Obama declared this a “new chapter” in relations between his country and Cuba.

The move was publicly lauded in both the US and Cuba, with the majority of Americans hailing Obama’s decision to restore relations with Cuba and open an embassy in Havana as well as urging the US Congress to revoke its embargo against the island nation.-VNA