(MENAFN- AFP) Greek leaders pressed their case for debt relief in Brussels, Frankfurt and Paris on Wednesday, saying they were optimistic of a deal but need urgent help from the European Central Bank to "stay afloat".
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis have been touring Europe to push their plan to renegotiate Athens' 240 billion euro ($270 billion) international bailout, a crisis that has spooked the markets and revived fears of a Greek exit from the euro.
Elected on a pledge to end austerity policies imposed on Greece as part of its bailout, Tsipras faces the delicate task of convincing his European partners to reverse course while ensuring Athens still gets the aid required to avoid a default.
In Brussels, Tsipras struck an upbeat note after talks with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker and EU president Donald Tusk, saying he was optimistic of a "viable and mutually acceptable solution".
A Greek government source said Tsipras and Juncker discussed plans to "jointly" create a four-year reform plan for Greece, as well as a bridging deal to give Athens time to draw up plans for reforms including on corruption and tax evasion.
But Tusk acknowledged that resolving the showdown over Greece's debt was likely to be "difficult" and needed "cooperation and dialogue as well as determined efforts by Greece."
- 'Fruitful' ECB talks -
The 40-year-old Greek premier -- whose anti-austerity Syriza party stormed to victory in elections on January 25 -- later flew to Paris where he urged France to be a "guarantor" in helping Europe return to growth.
President Francois Hollande -- whose government faces its own debt woes -- said after meeting Tsipiras that talks on Europe's problems should be "calm and with a willingness to find a solution."
Greece's newly-minted finance minister separately struck an upbeat note after meeting with ECB chief Mario Draghi in Frankfurt, despite earlier reports that the Italian would take a tough line.
"We had a very fruitful discussion and exchange," Varoufakis - a former economics professor dubbed the "rock star" for his casual dress style -- said after the hour-long talks.
Varoufakis has been pushing the idea of debt swaps that would extend the maturity of Greece's debts, instead creating bonds tied to economic growth.
Earlier a Financial Times report had suggested that Draghi might however block a key element of Athens' plan.
According to the FT, which cited officials involved in the deliberations, the ECB is refusing to raise an agreed cap on the amount of short-term treasury bills that Athens can issue from 15 billion euros to 25 billion euros.
The ECB's policy-setting governing council was meeting later Wednesday to decide whether to keep open a financial lifeline for Greek banks known as emergency liquidity assistance, or ELA.
Varoufakis earlier told the German weekly Die Zeit that the ECB "should support our banks so that we can stay afloat", acknowledging that Greece was "a bankrupt country".
Greece faces key payments on its debt at the end of February and again at the end of May.
- Next stop: Berlin -
The International Monetary Fund -- the third part of the so-called "troika" that oversees Greece's bailouts along with the European Commission and ECB -- said meanwhile it was not in debt talks with the Greek government.
The new Greek government has blamed its fiscal problems mainly on the austerity shackles fixed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Athens says these restrictions have choked growth in an economy that has shrunk by a quarter, failed to cut unemployment that stands at over 25 percent, and made it impossible to service a mountain of debt worth 1.75 times its annual economic output.
Striking a more conciliatory tone, Varoufakis said he was "extremely eager" to meet on Thursday with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.
But Merkel tried to squash the talk that Syriza could play on divisions within Europe, insisting that there were no substantial differences between major eurozone nations.
In a bid to quell western worries over the new Greek government's closeness to Russia at a time of Cold War-style tensions, Varoufakis said meanwhile that Athens would "never" seek loans from Moscow.
Greece's defence minister Panos Kammenos also told AFP that Athens remained committed to its NATO role despite its relationship with Russia.
Greece's political turmoil continued at home in the meantime, as judges sent 72 members of neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, including its leaders, for trial for crimes including murder.
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