Greek, German finance ministers contradict each other in first talks

[BERLIN] The Greek and German finance ministers could "not even agree to disagree" at their meeting on Thursday about the new government in Athens' plans to renegotiate Greece's debt and halt austerity measures prescribed by Berlin, the Greek minister said.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said after talks with Greece's Yanis Varoufakis in Berlin that they had different views but had agreed to disagree - but Mr Varoufakis directly contracted him in their joint news conference.

"We didn't even agree to disagree," said Mr Varoufakis, adding that they did not discuss Greece's debt repayment schedule or the possibility of debt "haircut" but did discuss Athens'proposal for a "bridging programme" to last until May.

REUTERS