On his first trip to Cuba during his third term in office, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called the embargo imposed by the United States on the island "illegal" and denounced the island's inclusion on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump included the island nation on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, and though the Biden administration has reversed other Trump-era measures, it has so far not removed Cuba from the list.

U.S. and Cuban officials made progress on a range of issues during high-level talks in Washington this week but were unable to narrow differences over the biggest disputes between the countries, Cuba’s vice foreign minister said on Thursday.

Cuba’s main concerns are that it remains on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism and the Biden administration’s continuation of Washington’s Cold War-era economic embargo against the Communist-ruled island.