Washington 'Ruled' Athens in Talks With Creditors

ATHENS (Sputnik) — Washington gave advice to the Greek government during the negotiations between Athens and its lenders on the country's debt settlement, media reported Sunday.

"Washington has ruled Athens, mainly [in terms] of a position it should take toward Berlin [during the talks on its debt settlement]," the Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported, citing a telegram by the Greek ambassador to the United States.

The aim of the US-Greece cooperation was to resist the pressure of Germany, to ensure that Greece would remain in the euro area and to reach an agreement on the next financial aid package, according to the media outlet.

The ambassador also said that the White House, the US National Security Council, high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Finance as well as from the State Department were involved in the cooperation between Greece and the United States. They all stayed in constant contact not only with Athens but with European capitals to ensure that Greece would not collapse and the eurozone would stay alive, the newspaper reported.

Greece has been bailed out by international money lenders several times over the past decade in exchange for strict austerity measures.

The leftist government, led by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' Syriza party, rebelled against creditors earlier this year over new conditions for a third bailout package, putting Greece on the edge of dropping out of the eurozone by summer. An agreement with lenders was nevertheless reached in July, with Tsipras saying that he was forced to choose between the tough terms proposed by the international lenders and a nationwide bankruptcy followed by Greece's exit from the eurozone.