**A senior American diplomat has held high-level talks with the Cuban government in Havana, state department officials are reported to have said.**The talks between the two nations were the first of their kind in years, the Associated Press news agency reports.
State department official Bisa Williams held the unannounced talks with Cuba’s deputy foreign minister during a visit to Cuba earlier this month, AP says.
A US trade embargo on Cuba remains, but there are signs relations are easing.
Earlier this month, Ms Williams, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, was part of a US delegation who went to Havana to discuss the possible resumption of direct postal services between the two nations.
Direct services were suspended in 1963 and currently post must go through third countries, meaning it can take several weeks to arrive.
State department spokesman Ian Kelly confirmed to AP that Ms Williams had stayed on in Cuba after the postal service discussions but gave few details of what had been discussed.
A US official told AP the subsequent talks had been “respectful”. Ms Williams reportedly spent six days in Cuba altogether.
Travel eased
US President Barack Obama earlier this month extended the 47-year-old trade embargo against Cuba.
Mr Obama has indicated he would be open to dialogue with Cuba’s leaders.
But he has said that, like previous American presidents, he will only consider a full lifting of the embargo once Cuba’s communist government makes significant moves such as the holding of democratic elections.
However, in a sign of thawing relations, he has eased travel restrictions for Americans wanting to visit Cuba and the two countries are holding direct talks on immigration.
Cuba’s President Raul Castro has said he is prepared to negotiate with the Obama administration, providing there are no preconditions.
His brother, former President Fidel Castro, also last week praised Mr Obama for his commitment to tackling climate change.