Alexis Tsipras

By Jeremy Gaunt & Karolina Tagaris

Greece said on Sunday it was confident of reaching agreement in negotiations with its euro zone partners but reiterated it would not accept harsh austerity strings in any debt pact.

The name of EU Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos was brandied as the Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) government's proposal for presidential candidate however the announcement that was to have taken place on Sunday was postponed.

The new leftist government in Greece will have to face another week of tough negotiations with its creditors. But sounds coming Washington have definitely contributed to the optimism in Athens.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will not announce his party's candidate for president until Tuesday, it was revealed late on Sunday.

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By Eleni Chrepa

Greek officials and the country?s creditors extended discussions through the weekend, as they raced to make progress ahead of the meeting of euro-area finance ministers in Brussels on Monday.

By Mike Peacock

The coming week will go a long way to dictating whether Greece remains in the euro zone.

A meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Monday is tasked with producing a deal that will keep Greece solvent and which is acceptable to both sides.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said in an interview published on Sunday that it made no sense to speculate on Greece abandoning the euro zone.

Slovak Finance Minister Peter Kazimir said on Sunday he was skeptical that a comprehensive deal on how to proceed with Greece and its debt pile can be reached at Monday's meeting of euro zone finance ministers.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reiterated in an interview for the next issue of the German "Stern" magazine, out next Thursday, that Greece doesn't need any new bailout loans.

The interviewers, journalists Andreas Albes, Ferry Batzoglou and Andreas Petzold, characterized the 40-year-old leftist leader as "open to dialogue and optimistic."