Obama boost as Greece bids to win over Europe on debt

Greece's new leaders on Feb. 2 embarked on a diplomatic campaign to win backing for a renegotiation of a 240 billion euro ($270 billion) bailout, winning support from US President Barack Obama but a stark warning from Britain.
      
On a European charm offensive in the face of German opposition, Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis met his British counterpart George Osborne in London, while Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras held talks in Cyprus.
      
Greek stocks, which have been volatile since the January 25 election won by Tsipras's left-wing Syriza party, jumped more than five percent after Obama warned that imposing austerity on Greece could backfire on its creditors.
      
"You cannot keep on squeezing countries that are in the midst of depression," Obama told CNN.
      
"At some point, there has to be a growth strategy in order for them to pay off their debts to eliminate some of their deficits."        Obama said the Greek economy was in "dire need" of reform but warned that drastic changes were tough to implement in a struggling economy.
      
A source travelling with finance minister Varoufakis said the "whole government was very happy" to hear Obama's comments in the face of hardening rhetoric from austerity proponents.
      
In Cyprus on his first foreign trip since coming to power, Tsipras said he had not expected so much international support for his campaign and stressed that Greece wanted a wider debate about debt for "all the peoples of Europe".
      
"Europe is in crisis, not just Greece and Cyprus," he said.
      
He also doubted the legality of the current system of supervision of indebted nations by the so-called "troika" of creditors, the International Monetary Fund,...