Upon his arrival at the Eurogroup meeting which will take place today in Brussels, Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan told reporters that Greece’s deputy prime minister Yiannis Dragasakis will lead negotiations with the country’s creditors, rather than FinMin Yanis Varoufakis.

The surprising news was first reported by Guardian correspondent in Brussels Ian Traynor. However, shortly after the Eurogroup meeting begun, close associates of Dragasakis rushed to refute the Irish FinMin’s statement.

It should be noted that Dragasakis has attended earlier eurogroup meetings, and also chairs the government’s high-ranking economic council.