German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras are holding talks in Berlin this evening as part of continued efforts to find a solution to Greece's debt crisis and prevent a Greek exit from the Eurozone.

Mrs Merkel has said she wants to see the Greek economy grow and to overcome its high rate of unemployment. However she has continued to stress that more funds will not be made available to the Greek government without reforms. 

Although the two leaders have shown a willingness to negotiate, The Guardian reports that Mr Tsipras has also demanded war reparations from Germany over Nazi atrocities in his country. The paper reports Mrs Merkel considers the issue of reparations "politically and legally closed".

Discussions between the two leaders continued this evening during a working dinner following their joint press conference.

Earlier, a senior official at the European Central Bank (ECB) has said that there will be a change in the bank's policy towards Greece.

ECB executive board member, Benoit Coeure has told a press conference that he understands that Greece's "programme will be amended to reflect the new priorities of the Greek government."

He says that there is "a clear willingness and good faith on all sides" to work towards a new agreement.

These comments came after it was learned that a letter sent by Alexis Tsipras to Angela Merkel ahead of their meeting today was particularly critical of the ECB.

The Greek leader wrote: "Given that Greece has no access to money markets, and also in view of the ‘spikes’ in our debt repayment obligations during the spring and summer . . . it ought to be clear that the ECB’s special restrictions when combined with disbursement delays would make it impossible for any government to service its debt."

ECB president Mario Draghi has been quick to play down talk of the bank giving Greece a new deal that reflects the anti-austerity platform that Syriza was elected on.

Mario Draghi spoke at today's meeting of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in Brussels - and he has defended the ECB's handling of the Greek crisis.

He says that the decision to refuse to accept Greek bonds as collateral was inline with the bank's existing rules.

Draghi: We're not creating rules for Greece, we're simply observing existing rules.

— ECB (@ecb) March 23, 2015

The Italian also said that a, "Process needs to be put in place to restore dialogue between Greek authorities and [the] three institutions" referring to the EU/IMF institutions that have overseen the bailing-out of EU countries.

He added that, "The Greek government should commit to fully honour its debt obligations to all its creditors" and refuted claims that the central bank has blackmailed Greece.

Originally posted at 15.57