French President Francois Hollande arrived in Cuba late Sunday for a historic one-day visit where he is expected to meet with his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro, according to a presidential aide.

Hollande is the first French leader to visit the communist island nation in more than a century and also the first Western leader to travel to Cuba since the surprise announcement in December of a rapprochement between Washington and Havana.

The aim of the trip "is that France be the first among European nations, and the first among western nations, to be able to say to the Cubans that we will be at their side if they decide themselves to take needed steps toward opening," Hollande told reporters before leaving for Havana.

The French president said the easing of a decades-long economic embargo by the United States will help Cuba's cash-strapped economy.