Paris calls for end to Cuba sanctions

French President Francois Hollande called Monday for an end to US sanctions on Cuba during a historic visit to Paris by President Raul Castro, seen as a key step in rebuilding ties with the West.

"President Obama... must, and he's said it himself, go all the way and bring an end to this vestige of the Cold War," Hollande said after meeting with the 84-year-old Cuban leader.

Castro is on his first official trip to the European Union since taking over from his elder brother Fidel in 2006. France has led the way in welcoming Cuba back into the diplomatic fold since the Caribbean island restored relations last year with the United States, after more than half a century of enmity.

The visit builds on Hollande's own state visit to Cuba last May, the first by a Western head of state in more than half a century. Castro is the second former pariah to be welcomed to Paris in a matter of days, after Hollande hosted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani last week.

He was formally welcomed on Monday under the Arc de Triomphe before being driven down a virtually deserted Champs-Elysees avenue decked out in Cuban flags.

Havana hopes the visit will allow Cuba to "widen and diversify its relations with France in all possible areas -- politics, economics, trade, finance, investment, culture and cooperation," said Rogelio Sierra, Cuba's deputy foreign minister.