GREECE and its European creditors agreed on the need to reach a cash-for-reforms deal quickly as Athens missed a self-imposed Sunday deadline for reaching an agreement to unlock aid, sources close to the talks said.

    Athens and its eurozone and International Monetary Fund (IMF) creditors have been locked in talks for months on a reforms agreement. Without a deal, Athens risks default or bankruptcy in weeks.

    The pressure has intensified in recent days as Athens faces a payment to the IMF on June 5 as well as the expiration of its bailout program June 30.

    The government said last week it was looking for a deal by Sunday, but sources close to the talks at the so-called Brussels Group of EU/IMF creditors said that was unlikely.

    In a phone call Sunday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande — the second in four days — Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pushed for a political solution for the country’s economic troubles.

    “(The teleconference) took place in a very good climate,” a Greek official said, adding that all three recognized the need for a quick deal.

    Tsipras has long sought a political push to end negotiations and get aid flowing to his cash-strapped country. But the lenders have insisted that Greece must wrap up talks at the technical level with adequate concessions on reforms so that its budget and debt numbers add up.

    In a column published on French daily Le Monde’s website Sunday, Tsipras said Greece should not be blamed for not yet reaching a deal with its creditors and called on fellow European leaders to bypass technical talks and come to a political solution.

    “If we have not reached an agreement with our partners, it’s not because of our intransigence or incomprehensible positions from the Greek side,” Tsipras wrote.

    “It is rather because of the obsession of some institutional representatives who insist on unreasonable solutions and are being indifferent to the democratic result of recent Greek elections.”

    He said the Greek Government had been ready to make compromises, for instance on privatization, despite its ideological opposition to them.

    Labor and pension reforms are believed to be among the big sticking points with Athens. Another source close to the talks said the major issues holding up a deal remained.

    Earlier, a Greek government official speaking on condition of anonymity, said the two sides were “very close” to a deal but one was not expected Sunday.

    (SD-Agencies)