Greece yesterday agreed to talk to its creditors about the way out of its hated international bailout in a political climbdown that could prevent its new leftist-led government running out of money as early as next month.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, attending his first EU summit, agreed with the chairman of eurozone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, that Greek officials would meet representatives of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF today.

“We agreed today to ask the institutions to engage with the Greek authorities to start work on a technical assessment of the common ground between the current programme and the Greek government’s plans,” Dijsselbloem tweeted. This, he said, would pave the way for crucial talks between eurozone finance ministers on Monday.

Europe always aims to find a compromise, and that is the success of Europe

The shift by Tsipras marked a potential first step towards resolving a crisis that has raised the risk of Greece being forced to abandon the euro, which could spark wider financial turmoil. A Greek official in Athens said it was a positive move towards a new financial arrangement with creditors.

It came less than 24 hours after eurozone finance ministers failed to agree on a statement on the next procedural steps because Athens did not want any reference to the unpopular bailout or the ‘troika’ of lenders enforcing it.

Tsipras won election last month promising to scrap the €240 billion bailout, end cooperation with the ‘troika’, reverse austerity measures that have cast many Greeks into poverty and negotiate a reduction in the debt burden.

The procedural step forward came after the ECB’s Governing Council extended a cash lifeline for Greek banks for another week, authorising an extra €5 billion in emergency lending assistance (ELA) by the Greek central bank. The council decided in a telephone conference to review the programme on February 18.

From left, Estonia’s Prime Minister Taavi Roivas, Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte posing for a family photo during an EU leaders summit in Brussels. yesterday.

Timing the review right after eurozone finance ministers meet again next week keeps Athens on a short leash.

The ECB authorised the temporary funding expedient for banks last week when it stopped accepting Greek government bonds in return for liquidity. Arriving for his first EU summit, Tsipras told reporters: “I’m very confident that together we can find a mutually viable solution in order to heal the wounds of austerity, to tackle the humanitarian crisis across the EU and bring Europe back to the road of growth and social cohesion.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel, vilified by the Greek left as Europe’s “austerity queen”, said Germany was prepared for a compromise and finance ministers had a few more days to consider Greece’s proposals before next Monday’s meeting.

“Europe always aims to find a compromise, and that is the success of Europe,” she said on arrival in Brussels. “Germany is ready for that. However, it must also be said that Europe’s credibility naturally depends on us respecting rules and being reliable with each other.”