The meeting between Alexis Tsipras and Angela Merkel went well. According to information, the two leaders made mention of the significant steps made between their previous, Berlin meeting, and today.

Amongst other things, the PM requested that negotiations be sped up in order to reach an agreement by the end of April, as provisioned by the 20th of February agreement.

Their meeting began at 14:30 local time, and will be followed by a meeting between French President Francois Hollande and Alexis Tsipras.

Speaking to reporters prior to his arrival, Tsipras said Greece has done all that it has promised and “now it’s the lenders’ turn”.

In a bid to “raise the ante”, one government spokesman warned, after the meeting on the sidelines of the extraordinary EU summit in Brussels, that if a “convergence wasn’t achieved by April 30, everything is open, even elections.”

Nevertheless, other officials within the Greek government emphasized that absolutely no ultimatum was given, directly or indirectly, to anyone. “Just as the Greek government doesn’t accept ultimatums, it also doesn’t set them.”

During the flight, government officials appeared more optimistic that a deal to unblock more than seven billion euros in bailout funds will come by the end of the month.