US Wants to Mediate Talks Between Athens, International Creditors - Greece

ATHENS (Sputnik) — The United States would like to mediate talks between Greece and the troika of international creditors, comprising the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union and the European Central Bank (ECB), the Greek Finance Ministry said Tuesday.

"They [US officials] stressed that the US government wants to play the role of an 'honest broker' to reach a solution as soon as possible, encouraging all parties of these talks," the Greek Finance Ministry said in a press release.

The announcement comes after a meeting of Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis with the US Treasury Department's Under Secretary for International Affairs Nathan Sheets and US Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economic Affairs Caroline Atkinson, as well as with IMF chief Christine Lagarde, held in Washington on April 5-6.

Following the meeting, the IMF chief said the fund is committed to continue cooperating with Greek authorities in order to help Athens put its crisis-hit economy back on the road to recovery.

The country is expected to repay another $220 million to the IMF on May 1. The next tranche of $840 million is scheduled to be paid on May 12.

Athens and Eurozone finance ministers agreed on the extension of Greece's bailout for four months in February. In return, Athens pledged to implement a range of economic reforms. The bailout deal is due to expire in late June.