“A Grexit would be the beginning of the end of the Eurozone” is the title of Austrian newspaper Kurier’s headline, in which the Greek PM gives an interview on the latest developments over the Greek crisis. “A Grexit cannot be a choice, neither for Greece, nor the EU”, he stated.

Kurier states that Alexis Tsipras knows that the upcoming days will be definitive for both his country and Europe. Tsipras also stated that Werner Faymann, the Austrian Chancellor is a good friend of Greece and supports an end to austerity.

When asked about older statements where he characterized Angela Merkel as Greece’s worst enemy, and juxtaposing that to the German Chancellor’s statements that she wishes for Greece to remain to the Euro, Tsipras responded that the majority of the Greek people have a negative image of Merkel. He also supported that this image has changed over the last few months during the negotiations. However, he mentioned that the German FinMin Wolfgang Schaeuble continues to have a negative image in the Greek public.

When asked on whether Angela Merkel can solve the Greek matter, Tsipras responded that a “solution cannot come from just one person. We must have a common goal. A European split is not to the benefit of our people. Only in solidarity, democracy and mutual respect, we can find a way out of the crisis. European unification was a process of inclusion. A turn towards the opposite would mean that the European idea has failed. We must stop that”.

In other comments from St. Petersburg on Friday, where he’s attending an economic forum hosted by Vladimir Putin, Tsipras reached into his bag of metaphors, nothing that “…we are in the middle of a storm, but we are people of the sea and we are not afraid of sailing in open seas and reaching safe harbors,”

Speaking before an audience that did not include another leader from the EU or North America, the radical leftist politician said the Union must return to its institutional principles and values.

“The so-called Greek problem is not a Greek problem but a European one. The problem does not bear the name Greece but the eurozone. The issue is whether the eurozone will give ground to growth and solidarity.”

In later statements, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the prospect of a Russian loan to cash-strapped Greece was not discussed, saying merely that the two leaders spoke about “the necessity of developing investment cooperation.”