Brussels: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will likely hold fresh talks with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker and creditors on Friday, European sources said, with all sides working feverishly to secure a deal.
"It should be Friday, get some rest," a European source close to the negotiations told AFP on Thursday, indicating that the negotiations would be long and arduous.
Another source also said on Thursday that the meeting "will very likely take place tomorrow".
An exhausted Juncker told an audience in Brussels Thursday that he had briefed German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the talks and would speak to French leader Francois Hollande later in the day.
"I slept two hours because my Greek friends prevented me from having a normal sleep and this will go on I think in the next coming days," Juncker said.
The fresh round of talks would probably include the same participants as the Wednesday meeting: Tsipras, Juncker and Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who is also Dutch finance minister.
The ECB and IMF, which make up Greece`s creditors along with commission, were however absent Wednesday, which Juncker said was their choice.
In Wednesday`s talks, Tsipras and Juncker failed in their bid to hammer out a reform plan that could unlock the final 7.2-billion-euro ($8.0-billion) tranche of Greece`s bailout.
"We made some progress yesterday night, it is not sufficient," Juncker said.
European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas declined to confirm a Friday meeting, repeating the Brussels line that there would be fresh talks "in coming days" without giving further details.
The sides "agreed to meet again and the intense work will continue," he said. "Yesterday`s discussion was very useful, constructive... enabling to identify the points that really need to be settled."
However, he added: "There were certain areas... differences... and on these issues we need to bridge the gaps."
