President Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro met briefly on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, marking their second meeting in 2015 after a historic thaw in diplomatic relations earlier this year.
The two men shook hands briefly and Castro laughed as he looked up at Obama and realized he is much taller, according to NBC News.
Obama on Tuesday was joined by Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice, and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power, as well as other aides, according to ABC News. Castro was surrounded by a clutch of aides and officials.
The two presidents met to discuss recent progress in reestablishing diplomatic ties between their countries. Obama highlighted U.S. regulatory shifts that will ease American travel and business with the country, but emphasized that the success of these changes also hinge on Cuba's continued reforms, according to details released by the White House. He also echoed the administration's support for human rights in Cuba.
The meeting comes just two months after the Obama Administration reopened its embassy in Cuba. In August, Secretary of State John Kerry made a trip to the Island as part of the administration's strategy to restore diplomatic ties with the country. It was the first time a secretary of state visited Cuba since 1945, according to CNN.
The last time a Cuban President met with someone from the president's administration in the U.S. was in April 1959, just four months after the Cuban Revolution. Former President Fidel Castro accepted an invitation to New York from the American Society of Newspaper editors, ABC News reported. President Eisenhower avoided Castro. But just before he returned to Cuba, Vice President Richard Nixon visited him in private.