Greece in last-ditch EU talks to break debt deadlock

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday urged fellow European leaders to be realistic in their demands for Greek reforms to avoid sowing "division" in the bloc.

"We must avoid division," Tsipras said as he departed for a crucial meeting in Brussels with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, adding: "I am certain the leadership of Europe will do what must be done, it will join the side of realism."

Tsipras will present to Juncker his government's proposal on how to overhaul the struggling Greek economy whilst breaking with harsh austerity.

The proposal "will enable Greece to escape economic asphyxiation, make room for recovery, and put an end to Grexit scenarios," Tsipras said, referring to fears that Greece could default on its debts and crash out of the eurozone.

"So far we have not received comments on this proposal, nor any other document from the side of the institutional peers," the prime minister said, referring to the country's creditors.

Greece's creditors, the EU, IMF and ECB, are widely understood to have their own plan to lay on the table, one that includes measures the Greek government has repeatedly baulked at over the past four months of fruitless negotiations.