HAVANA, April 20. /TASS/. Cuba’s foreign ministry has confirmed reports about a recent meeting between the Cuban and American delegations, the Granma newspaper said, citing Alejandro Garcia del Toro, deputy director general in charge of U.S. affairs at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"I can confirm that a meeting between Cuban and American delegations was held here, in Cuba, not long ago," the newspaper quoted the diplomat. According to Garcia del Toro, the US delegation included deputy State Department officials, and Cuba was represented at the level of the deputy foreign minister.

"During the meeting, neither party set any deadlines or made threatening statements," he said, describing the meeting as "respectful."

"Eliminating the energy embargo against the country was a top priority for our delegation," the Cuban diplomat said, slamming this measure as an "act of economic coercion" and an "ungrounded punishment of the entire Cuban population."

"This is also a form of global blackmail of sovereign states, which have all the rights to export fuel to Cuba in line with the rules regulating free trade," he stressed.