Cuban state television has reported that Fidel Castro, the country's convalescing president, has met his fellow Communist leader Nong Duc Manh, from Vietnam.
However no pictures of Saturday's meeting were broadcast and 80-year-old Castro has still not been seen in public since he underwent intestinal surgery last July.
But images were shown of Manh's earlier meeting with Raul Castro, Fidel's brother and the Cuban defence minister, who temporarily took over power on July 31.
Castro's exact ailment and condition remain state secrets, but he is largely believed to suffer from diverticular disease, which forms sacs in the colon that can become inflamed and bleed.
In one of a new series of essays he has been writing during his convalescence, Castro said he had undergone numerous operations and the first one had not gone well, explaining why his recovery has been delayed.
Nevertheless, senior Cuban officials have repeatedly said Castro is on the mend and the government has occasionally released photographs and videotapes during his recovery.
State television reported that Castro's meeting with Manh "ratified the warm ties that unite our nations."
Raul Castro and Manh had earlier signed a series of bilateral accords, including one that will make Vietnam Cuba's latest partner in oil exploration and drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.