Greek officials are pulling out all the stops in an effort to borrow 15 billion euros (16.2 billion dollars) to avoid default, with recent feelers out to China and Russia, according to Greek media reports Saturday, according to dpa. Weekly newspaper Karfi cited government officials saying that the country is hoping China will provide a 10-billion-euro loan, in the form of a prepayment for future use of the port of Piraeus and as an advance on its investment into Greece's railway operator. Greece is hoping for an additional 3 to 5 billion euros from Russia, according to the weekly Agora, citing officials. That would serve as an advance payment for fees linked to a planned gas pipeline dubbed Turkish Stream, bringing Russian gas to the Greek-Turkish border. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month about extending the pipeline onto Greek territory so the gas could then be shipped on to Central Europe. German news website Spiegel Online reported that a deal to that effect could be signed as early as Tuesday. A senior Greek official said inking the deal could "turn the page" for Greece, which has flirted with default for years, ever since it turned out that past governments had chronically under-reported the country's deficits. However, in a sign that not all questions have been answered, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told radio broadcaster Business FM that Greece should not count on any financial aid from Russia and noted that the topic never came up during the talks between Tsipras and Putin. Peskov said that some of the discussions focused on ways to cooperate on energy policy, with an offer of hundreds of millions of euros in transit fees if Greece joined up with the pipeline project. Questions linger, including whether the European Union would approve the deal to bring the pipeline into Greece and money could be released for a project that has yet to receive such approval. Greece is trying to pull together a list of credible reforms and cost-cutting proposals to present to its creditors - the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - in exchange for the release of 7.2 billion euros from its bailout package that has been held up amid worries that Greece is not making the changes necessary to stay solvent and produce sustainable economic growth. Talks between Greece and its creditors began Saturday in Brussels, but an EU Commission spokeswoman said there was no likelihood of any agreement in the talks, which were expected to last all weekend. Instead, the focus was on preparing the way for talks on the subject by EU finance ministers Friday in Riga. At the IMF's twice-yearly meeting in Washington, the United States on Saturday urged the Greek government to reach a prompt agreement in bailout talks. "We urge the authorities to quickly and fully commit to technical negotiations with their international partners," US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said. "Not reaching agreement would create immediate hardship for Greece, and uncertainties for Europe and the global economy more broadly." In Washington, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble welcomed the possible Greek deal with Russia, though he questioned if it would satisfy the demands of Greece's international creditors. "I'm happy for Greece, if that's the case," Schaeuble said. European Central Bank Chief Mario Draghi called for a fair, negotiated solution to the Greek talks that results in both growth and financial stability for the country.
