Gabriel Sakellaridis

Greece's energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis is visiting Moscow on Monday in a bid to arrange more favourable terms for imports of Russian gas, according to a report in Germany's Spiegel Online.

Athens will present shortly its list of reform proposals related to the extension of its bailout program, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras told German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday.

During his visit to Berlin, Tsipras held a meeting with Merkel that Greek government officials later described as "cordial".

Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has warned German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a letter that Athens will not be able to service its debt without financial help from the EU, the Greek government revealed on March 23.
      
Greek government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis confirmed a report in the Financial Times which said that Tsipras had written to Merkel.
      

Greece expects to reach a cash-for-reforms deal with its creditors in the next 10 days and intends to meet all its payments in June, the government's spokesman said on Friday.

"We think conditions have matured for (talks) to progress further and in the next 10 days, in May, for the deal to be sealed," Gabriel Sakellaridis told Skai TV.

The Greek parliament adopted a "humanitarian crisis" bill on Wednesday, the first package of social measures put forward by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' radical left-wing government.

By Ben Sills, Karl Stagno Navarra & Marcus Bensasson

Greece is pinning its hopes on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras winning support from European leaders to break an impasse over financial aid for the cash-strapped country.

By Sarah Morris & Lefteris Papadimas

Eurozone countries are discussing a third bailout for Greece worth 30 billion to 50 billion euros, Spain's economy minister said on Monday, but EU officials said there were no such talks.

Greece's government sought to assure its creditors and investors on Monday that it can cover its funding needs this month, including repaying a 1.5 billion euro loan to the International Monetary Fund.

By Karolina Tagaris & Renee Maltezou

Greece will send its economic reform plans to eurozone finance ministers on Tuesday morning, a government official said, missing a Monday deadline for submitting the list which is a condition for extending the country's bailout programme.

By George Georgiopoulos & Alistair Macdonald

Greece's left-wing government insisted on Saturday it had avoided being "strangled" by the eurozone, which agreed in principle to extend a financial rescue deal as nervous savers pulled huge sums from Greek banks.