Riga

By Renee Maltezou & Deepa Babington

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Reuters on Thursday he was "firmly optimistic" his government would reach an agreement with foreign creditors by the end of April despite friction over issues such as pension and labour reform.

Greek Finance Ministry officials suggested that a new Brussels Group meeting would take place on Friday or Saturday but European officials on Thursday appeared unaware of such an event.

Greece?s creditors appeared to harden their stance against Athens on Wednesday amid signs of virtually no progress in negotiations on reforms amid a growing sense that they have tired of their Greek interlocutors and are preparing for the worst despite their stated hopes of an eventual breakthrough.

Bulgaria, which aims to reduce its almost total dependence on Russian gas supplies, will soon publish details of a licensing round to open the Silistar and Teres oil and gas blocks in the Black Sea, a senior government official has said.

By Nikos Chrysoloras, Marcus Bensasson & Rainer Buergin

European officials said Greece is running out of time to unfreeze the aid needed to keep the country afloat as they consider contingency plans should negotiations collapse.

The German mass daily Handesblatt quotes EU Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis on Tuesday as saying that an agreement between Greece and its EZ creditors at a closely watched April 24 Eurogroup meeting is "unlikely".

As Greece?s cash reserves continue to dwindle, European officials indicated Tuesday that a lack of progress in negotiations between the Greek government and the country?s creditors meant it was unlikely a deal could be reached in time for a Eurogroup summit scheduled for April 24.

By Scott Lanman

As negotiations for Greek economic reforms drag on, a further ?crisis? can?t be ruled out, according to International Monetary Fund chief economist Olivier Blanchard.

EU Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas underlined on Tuesday in Brussels that the European Commission expects that there will be a significant outcome in the negotiations between the Greek Government and the institutions by April 24.