(VOVworld) - US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez held talks in Panama City on Friday, the highest-level meeting of the two countries in the past 50 years.

US Secretary of State John Kerry (R) and his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez. (Photo: VNA)

The talks came on the eve of the Summit of the Americas which opened in Panama on Friday. US President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet with Cuban leader Raul Castro on the margin of the two-day summit. Earlier, the two countries agreed on an action plan for the normalization of bilateral relations, including the first phase of re-establishing ties and opening embassies in the respective countries, and the second phase of lifting US embargoes against Cuba over the past half century.