Cuba's President Raul Castro has sought an end to U.S. trade sanctions after Havana and Washington DC started official negotiations on normalizing diplomatic ties.

The island nation's current leader, who is the brother of former Cuban President Fidel Castro, said the long-standing embargo has caused huge economic and human damage.

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Lifting the embargo is an uphill battle in the U.S. Congress, which has the sole power to overturn economic sanctions, as many Republican lawmakers are bent on opposing improving relations with Cuba.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Castro on Wednesday agreed to several steps to thaw relations. One of those conditions was that Cuba would free American contractor Alan Gross while the U.S. would release three Cubans held for espionage. Also part of the deal was the release of an unidentified U.S. operative jailed in Cuba for two decades.

The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in the 1960s and placed trade sanctions after communists led by Fidel Castro ruled Cuba.

Obama said the outdated policy of keeping Cuba isolated has failed, adding the country needs economic reforms and the protection of human rights. He noted a new approach was necessary. The U.S. president expected to open an embassy in Cuba's capital in the next several months.

Warmer U.S.-Cuba relations followed months of secret negotiations in the Vatican and Canada, which involved Pope Francis.

Obama has to deal with entrenched opposition from members of Congress who see Cuba's government as an oppressive dictatorship. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who is Cuban-American, pledged to do everything in his power to oppose the lifting of sanctions against Cuba.

Rubio's colleagues, Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain, lamented the shift in diplomatic policy showed that American values are in decline.

Castro said in a televised speech that his government was open to resolve remaining issues with the US on internal policies, national sovereignty and democracy.

TagsRaul Castro, Barack Obama, U.S.-Cuba, trade sanctions, Fidel Castro