STORY: Cuba and the United States are in communication, a Cuban diplomat told Reuters on Monday (February 2), although he said the exchanges have not yet evolved into a formal "dialogue."

Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, Cuba's deputy foreign minister, told Reuters the U.S. government was aware that Cuba was "ready to have a serious, meaningful and responsible dialogue."

"We have had exchange of messages, we have embassies, we have had communications, but we can not say we have had a table of dialogue," de Cossio told Reuters in an interview at the Foreign Ministry building in Havana.

De Cossio's statements on Monday represent the first hint from Cuba that the two sides are in conversation, even if in a limited fashion, after tensions flared earlier this month between the two countries following the U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, long a close ally of Cuba.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said the United States had begun talks with "the highest people in Cuba," days after declaring Cuba "an unusual and extraordinary threat" to U.S. national security and threatening tariffs on any nation that sends oil to the communist-run island.

"I think we're going to make a deal with Cuba," Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Sunday (February 1). Cuba had previously denied any talks with the United States.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: SOUNDBITES FROM CUBAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER, CARLOS FENANDEZ DE COSSIO

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE STORY

SHOWS: HAVANA, CUBA (FEBRUARY 2, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all)

1. HEADQUARTERS OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF CUBA (MINREX)

2. MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS SIGN

3. CUBAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER, CARLOS FERNANDEZ DE COSSIO, DURING INTERVIEW WITH REUTERS

4. FERNANDEZ DE COSSIO SEEN THROUGH CAMERA VIEWFINDER DURING INTERVIEW WITH REUTERS

5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CUBAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER, CARLOS FERNANDEZ DE COSSIO, SAYING:

“We do not have a table of dialogue between the two countries. We have had exchange of messages. We have embassies. We have had communications. But we cannot say that we have a table of dialogue. Now, the U.S. government knows that we are ready to have a serious, meaningful and responsible dialogue, based on respect for sovereign equality, respect for international law. And that we are sure there are many issues we could discuss, including many on which we have differences, and that perhaps many of them could find a solution if there were to be a dialogue between the two countries”.

6. CUBAN FLAG WAVING

7. CUBAN FLAG WAVING AND SCULPTURE OF CUBAN FLAG AND PIGEON IN FRONT OF U.S. EMBASSY BUILDING

8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CUBAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER, CARLOS FERNANDEZ DE COSSIO, SAYING:

“The U.S. has gone very far in its level of threats and above all, in the magnitude of the economic aggression against the people of Cuba. And also in the type of excuses it's raising, it has gone to the point of identifying Cuba as a threat to the national security of the United States. Something that most people in the U.S. and outside of the U.S. will find it absurd and yet the government found it necessary to raise that, to claim that Cuba has foreign military bases, that Cuba harbours terrorism, all of which the U.S. government and in particular the authorities that are responsible for those issues in the U.S. know very well that that is untrue.”

9. U.S. FLAG WAVING IN FRONT OF U.S. EMBASSY

10. U.S. EMBASSY BUILDING NEXT TO AVENUE

11. FACADE OF THE U.S. EMBASSY

12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CUBAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER, CARLOS FERNANDEZ DE COSSIO, SAYING:

“The majority of Cubans know that does not bring fuel (Ed’s note: answering about protests). That does not bring agricultural productivity, that does not push industry. So, we hope that with information, with education, our people understand what it means. I doubt that the majority of Cubans would be saying: ‘Okay, let's forget about the notion of having a sovereign nation and just ask the United States what they want us to be’. I doubt that the majority population would do that. I doubt that the international community would accept it”.

13. NATIONAL CAPITOL BUILDING

14. CUBAN FLAG NEXT TO THE DOME OF THE NATIONAL CAPITOL

15. PEOPLE WALKING DOWN STREET