Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was set Thursday to come face-to-face for the first time with all of his 27 EU counterparts, dpa reported. The EU summit in Brussels comes just hours after Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and his eurozone colleagues failed to agree a deal on the future of the country's bailout - or even the steps to be taken over the next days. Tsipras' far-left government was elected last month on a promise to end the painful austerity and tax hikes associated with a total of 240 billion euros (272 billion dollars) in rescue packages that the country has received since 2010 to avoid bankruptcy. Athens is now trying to negotiate alternative, less painful, measures to stay financially afloat. But time is running short, with the European portion of its rescue package due to expire at the end of the month.
