US President Barack Obama's move to drop Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism is "fair", the Cuban foreign ministry has said.
"The government of Cuba acknowledges the fair decision of the president of the United States to take Cuba off a list on which it should never have been included," said a statement signed by Cuba's top official for relations with Washington.
Cuba's communist government had said normal relations would be impossible as long as it remained on the US blacklist.
Mr Obama ordered a review of Cuba's status after he and Cuban President Raul Castro announced a diplomatic breakthrough on 17 December.
Cuba was placed on the list in 1982 when it was aiding rebel movements in Africa and Latin America, but the country has long since ceased supporting foreign insurgencies.
Its presence on the list, however, has continued to limit its access to international banking and overseas financial markets.
Foreign investors in Cuba said delisting the country would prove positive for the Caribbean island's economy.
Banks could legally do business with Cuba while it was on the list but the regulations proved onerous, leading 20 banks to stop doing business with the Cuban government or Cuban interests in third countries over the past 18 months, Cuba said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement welcoming Mr Obama's decision that "circumstances have changed since 1982," when Cuba was listed "because of its efforts to promote armed revolution by forces in Latin America."
In his report to Congress, Mr Obama certified that "the government of Cuba has not provided any support for international terrorism during the preceding six-month period, and "has provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future."
Congress has 45 days to consider Mr Obama's decision before it takes effect, but politicians cannot stop it unless both chambers approve a joint resolution, a move that is highly unlikely.
Many of Mr Obama's fellow Democrats hailed his decision and some experts said it was long overdue.
However, US Senator Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American politician from south Florida and newly announced Republican presidential candidate, denounced it as a "terrible" decision, saying Cuba was helping North Korea evade sanctions and harbouring fugitives from US justice.
The fugitives include Joanne Chesimard, wanted for the killing of a New Jersey state trooper in the early 1970s.
