Greece faces ‘intensive work’ as deadline looms

European leaders yesterday told Greece to return to the negotiating table for “intensive work” to wrap up a reform agreement before cash runs out, sidestepping Athens’ demand for a comprehensive, long-term solution to its troubles.

With his country risking default in as little as two weeks, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras flew to Riga to press German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande for a political push to break the impasse in technical-level talks with the EU and IMF.

The leaders offered help, but told Tsipras to get back to focusing on talks with the troika, which has been bankrolling Greece since it nearly went bankrupt in 2010.