Now Greece may turn to Russia for a bailout

RUSSIA is considering bailing out Greece in exchange for some of the country’s assets, it was reported last night.

Greek premier Alexis Tsipras will meet Vladimir Putin in moscow today amid reports that the Kremlin will offer controversial loans and discounts on supplies of natural gas.

The visit will raise fears that Greece’s radical-Left Syriza government is looking east for alternative sources of finance at it tries to avoid bankruptcy.

Ahead of his visit, mr Tsipras condemned the West’s economic sanctions on moscow over the Ukraine crisis as ‘ a road to nowhere’. But martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament, has warned it would be unacceptable if mr Tsipras jeopardised Europe’s common policy on Russia in return for Kremlin aid.

Russia’s Kommersant newspaper quoted an anonymous moscow government source last night saying that lines of credit were being offered.

‘We’re ready to consider the question of providing Greece discounts on gas: the price for it is tied to the cost of oil which has significantly fallen in recent months,’ the source said.

‘We are also ready to discuss the possibility of granting Greece new loans. But here we, in turn, are interested in reciprocal moves – in particular, in Russia receiving par- ticular assets in Greece.’ Yesterday Greece demanded £204billion in compensation from Germany for Nazi atrocities including looting during the Second World War.

The German government says the issue was resolved legally years ago. The demand comes days before Greece must repay £328million of debt to the International monetary Fund.

Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek finance minister, has said the country ‘intends to meet all obligations to all its creditors, ad infinitum’.

Greek mPs yesterday voted to establish a committee to examine the circumstances of the country’s £175billion bailout by eurozone creditors and the ImF.

mr Varoufakis claims Greece was unfairly lumbered with liabilities it is struggling to pay off.