WASHINGTON—

After nearly seven months of negotiations, the United States and Cuba are announcing Wednesday an agreement to reopen embassies in Washington and Havana later this month, in the latest move to end decades of hostility.

The U.S. trade embargo and Cuba's human rights record are among the issues still blocking normalizing relations broken following Fidel Castro's revolution.

The U.S. Embassy in Havana is expected to reopen later this month and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has indicated he will attend the flag-raising ceremony.