Euclid Tsakalotos

By Rebecca Christie

Greece needs to show euro-area nations what it could deliver by mid-May to unlock new aid payments and avoid default, the European commissioner in charge of euro matters said.

Greece and its lenders are due to get back down to business on Saturday with a meeting of the Brussels Group that Athens hopes will result in an interim agreement by the end of the month at the latest.

By Costas Iordanidis

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was back in the spotlight on Wednesday after breaking several weeks of silence on the issue of Greece to express his assurances that the markets have already priced in any eventuality in Athens?s ongoing bailout talks.

Technical work aimed at securing a basis for an agreement between Greece and its lenders is expected to begin in Athens and Brussels on Monday ahead of a Eurogroup meeting on April 24.

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Technical teams resumed their efforts in Athens on Tuesday, ahead of the Euro Working Group discussion set to begin at 4 p.m. on Wednesday and continue on Thursday. The negotiations at the meeting are based on a revised set of reforms that Greece sent to its international creditors last week.

As technical teams resume their fact-finding efforts in Athens, eurozone finance ministry officials are on Wednesday to discuss Greek proposals for reforms amid mixed signals from the government about what measures are actually on the table of talks.

US Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs Nathan Sheets on Monday has urged the SYRIZA government to “fully commit” to negotiations with institutional creditors in order to conclude reforms necessary to acquire another bailout package.

He made the statement during talks with visiting Greek FinMin Yanis Varoufakis in Washington, according to Reuters.

By Eleni Chrepa & Marcus Bensasson

Greece is stepping up efforts to find allies in the U.S. and Russia as cash reserves run dry while an agreement on additional funding from the country?s euro partners still looks like weeks away.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis wants the negotiations with the country's official lenders to reach a preliminary deal at an April 24 meeting of euro zone finance ministers, he told Greek daily Naftemporiki on Monday.