Athens---Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras held talks Friday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande on the eve of a "crucial" eurozone meeting over Athens.
The Brussels meeting, confirmed by a Greek government source and held ahead of a European summit, was aimed at resolving tensions between Athens and its international creditors, with negotiators racing to avoid a disastrous Greek default and potential euro exit.
The three leaders briefly spoke about the importance of Saturday's looming Eurogroup meeting of eurozone finance ministers, a separate French government source told AFP.
They agreed that the gathering comes at a "crucial and decisive stage" in the tough negotiations to work towards "agreement on a package of reforms, investment and financing" for Greece, according to the French source.
The Greek source added that Tsipras "stressed that the Greek side did not understand why (creditor) institutions insisted on such tough measures".
The nation's latest reform and bailout talks in Brussels had failed Thursday to reach a deal, just days ahead of a major debt deadline for Athens.
Marathon meetings between Tsipras and the heads of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary fund ended with no agreement Thursday.
Negotiators are still aiming to finalise a deal ahead of a critical June 30 payment deadline for a 1.5 billion euro ($1.7 billion) IMF loan repayment.
Creditors are however refusing to unlock 7.2 billion euros in bailout funds unless Greece accepts new reforms.
Merkel and Hollande have already set an ultimatum for Greece to reach a new debt deal with creditors by Saturday, in order to avert a possible default.
Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem, speaking in The Hague, added a bailout deal between Greece and its EU-IMF creditors must be clinched on Saturday or there will not be enough time for it to get parliamentary approval.
European heads of state, gathered in Brussels for a regular summit, have refused to grant Tsipras a new eurozone leaders' gathering to address the fate of his country.
Saturday's Eurogroup meeting will meanwhile be the fifth in less than ten days.
Separately, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told Irish radio that Athens was being put before a "clearly unviable" agreement by its EU-IMF creditors -- but remains committed to staying in the eurozone.
AFP
