Germany: Steinmeier meets Cuban FM Rodriguez in Berlin

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier held a joint press conference with his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez in Berlin, Tuesday.
During the press conference, Steinmeier commented on the upcoming Normandy Format meeting in Berlin. "On this topic [the Ukraine crisis], the political solution, the progress is like a snail that's moving forward by the millimetre, at best. This can't go on like this indefinitely. This way one cannot have a permanent and stable ceasefire. That's why, during tomorrow's meeting, I look forward to the progress we need in the field for preparing the local elections, to organise security during the local elections, to avoid a relapse such as those we have witnessed in the past," Steinmeier stated.
"This is the Minsk implementation, the Minsk process, and this Minsk process can't continue indefinitely, we cannot extend it until the 'Greek calendae' [a day that will never come] and that's why we need not just a clear pledge from the conflicting parties tomorrow in Berlin, but above all, success in its implementation," he added.
Commenting on US President Barack Obama's visit to Cuba, Rodriguez said: "President Obama made a positive visit to Havana, both for Cuba and the United States, last March. In reality there still is an iceberg of the Cold War, an iceberg of the cold war, which is the embargo against Cuba, and it's still there."
"This last thing he [US President Barack Obama] did in a positive way, but frankly, in a very limited way, including the financial sector. The implementation of the embargo in the financial sector is a real obstacle for the economic relations between Cuba and Germany today. Therefore I am sure that when the blockade is eliminated, one will be able to say that the last ice float will be dissolved," he added.