United States Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has increased pressure on Germany to show a bit of flexibility towards talks with Greece on the issue of debt relief— calling for “meaningful debt relief.”
He made the comments during meetings on the sidelines of the G7 meetings in Japan with German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble, echoing his statements during meetings with other European leaders including eurozone chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem and French finance minister Michel Sapin.
Mr Lew, according to a Treasure Department statement “underscored the importance of Europe following through on its commitment to put Greece’s debt on a sustainable path through meaningful debt relief.”
Lew also told Mr. Schäuble that “all parties need to be flexible to successfully conclude the negotiations,” according to the statement.
The United States has increasingly applied pressure to both sides— particularly Greece’s European creditors, to come up with a compromise solution that will prevent a Greek bankruptcy— feared as early as July, unless new bailout terms are agreed upon.
