Intensive talks on a loan deal with debt-strapped Greece are "making progress", Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem has said.
"We are intensively busy with the Greeks and we are making progress, I would say cautiously," Dijsselbloem told local television station RTL Z.
Negotiations with Greece's international creditors went down to the wire yesterday, with Athens' radical Syriza-led government and its EU-IMF creditors deadlocked for months over the reforms needed to release a final €7.2bn in bailout funds.
Dijsselbloem said it was "not a given" any breakthrough would be made at an eastern partnership summit in Riga that starts on Thursday.
"Of course, government leaders will be there and anything can be discussed, but it's not a given," Dijsselbloem said in answer to a question on whether Greece could "hope for extra help."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin on Tuesday that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tspiras would be at the Riga summit and that "we'll see if opportunities for discussion emerge".
French President Francois Holland added "we will have the opportunity to talk to Mr Tspiras" in Riga, without specifying who would join the talks.
Both Merkel and Hollande urged speedy efforts for Greece to reach a deal.
Greek government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis told reporters in Athens yesterday "a deal is required immediately, this is why we are talking about the end of May."
However German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has said that negotiations with Greece were going too slowly, according to two participants at a meeting of conservative politicians.
While Schaeuble praised the Greeks for making some progress in "sub-areas", he said discussions with Athens remained slow overall and there had not yet been a breakthrough, the participants told Reuters.
They added that Schaeuble said discussions revolved around Greece's fulfilment of the current aid programme and there was no need to speculate about a ‘Plan B’.
An third participant told journalists that the conservative parliamentary faction held a big debate about Greece, during the course of which several lawmakers spoke about their trips to Greece and expressed concerns about the willingness to reform there.
The third participant quoted Schaeuble as saying: "We know that a large part of the Greek population is suffering but the Greek government doesn't see yet what needs to be done to end this suffering."
Schaeuble said there was no reason to talk about a Plan B or a third aid package, the participant said.
