Greek Defense Minister Says Country Has 'Plan B' If No Debt Agreement Is Reached With EU

Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos said on Tuesday that Greece could look elsewhere for help if it fails to secure a new debt agreement with the euro zone, local news site Ekathimerini reported. Kammenos is a member of the nationalist anti-austerity Independent Greeks, the junior coalition partner in the newly elected government.

Syriza came to power on a Euroskeptic platform that rejected austerity demands imposed on them by its creditors. The government wants part of the nation’s debt written off, a demand that primary creditor Germany has consistently rejected.

"What we want is a deal. But if there is no deal ... and if we see that Germany remains rigid and wants to blow apart Europe, then we have the obligation to go to Plan B. Plan B is to get funding from another source," he reportedly told Mega Television. "It could the United States at best, it could be Russia, it could be China or other countries.”

Kammenos also said on the program that his party and Syriza agree on “80 percent of issues” and dealing with the embattled country’s debt crisis is one of them. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who leads the far-left Syriza party, has previously stressed that Greece will not leave the euro, but will negotiate a new settlement.

“I do not envision fresh debt cancellation,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly told German language newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt, the Express reported. "There has already been voluntary debt forgiveness by private creditors, banks have already slashed billions from Greece's debt."

Syriza has also demanded reparations for World War II and for Germany to repay a loan that the Nazis had forced the Bank of Greece to grant. Speaking to the Berliner Morgenpost about these demands, Merkel reportedly said: “The question doesn’t arise,” the Express reported.

Last week, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanoc had said that Moscow would be willing to consider lending to Greece.

“If such [a] petition is submitted to the Russian government, we will definitely consider it, but we will take into account all the factors of our bilateral relationships between Russia and Greece, so that is all I can say," Siluanoc said, in an interview with CNBC on Friday.

Greece distanced itself from statements from the European Union, earlier on Tuesday, calling for further sanctions against Russia due to its involvement in the Ukraine crisis. After the EU statement, Tsipras voiced his disapproval of the sanctions. "It is underlined that Greece does not consent to this statement,” Tsipras’ office said, RT reported.