Greece cash crunch catches up with Tsipras

Athens

WHEN his plane touches down in Athens, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will be quickly re-acquainted with reality.

Talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday focused on a proposed energy pipeline, future investments and sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, a meeting that had been dismissed before it began by Germany and France as a sideshow.

With a payment made to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday depleting Greek cash reserves still further, it's back to haggling with creditors in the euro region over a financial lifeline.

"There's been a big fuss over this trip without immediate economic benefits," said Dimitris Sotiropoulos, an associate professor of political science at the University of Athens. "Now he needs to do something quickly. The…