Eurogroup delayed as Anastasiades locked in Brussels talks, Schaeuble calls on Cyprus to be ‘realistic’

The meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels on Sunday has been delayed by two hours as President Nicos Anastasiades continued talks with European officials.

Ahead of the Eurogroup, which is due to start at 9 p.m. Greek time, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble called for Anastasiades and Cypriot officials to view the challenges facing them “realistically”.

“We had an agreement following our negotiations last Saturday but we start again today,” he said. “There were talks during the week but I am not aware of their outcome. I hope we will be able to reach an agreement, however this demands that Cyprus must see the situation realistically. We are ready for a solution, we want to do everything and not spend every weekend here. It does not depend on us, but Cyprus.”

Earlier, Anastasiades had been meeting with Manuel Barroso, European Council chief Herman Van Rompuy, European Central Bank head Mario Draghi, European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn and International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde.

“We are continuing negotiations,” tweeted Anastasiades at about 7.30 p.m. Greek time. “We are doing our utmost for Cyprus.”