mr. tsipras is doing there.mbargo on greek fruits the tourism obviously the damage to tourism for greece, in terms of russians come ing over. do you think those are areas there could be some negotiations? >> so far just speculation. there are talks russia could lift one corner of the blanket embargo of anything food-like from europe. this will bring back 35 million euro profits from greece. if mr. tsipras comes home with this kind of agreement he will be greeted very warmly. the tourism will operate in similar quantityies. nothing comparable to the amount greece needs to put on the table in front of its creditors. so far, we have no indications any particular concrete statements are planned for today's meeting. >> chris morris talked about the bit of divide and rule perhaps the russian approach at the moment. i understand that maybe a similar approach might be taken with hungary and sicyprus. can you see a policy developing here? >> moscow would love to have a european leader speaking publicly against the europe

mr. tsipras' first two months in power have been dominated by the installment of its 240 billion international bailout program. in the latest sign of worsening relations between athens and its european creditors. greece demanded almost 280 billion euros in world war ii reparations from germany. mr. tsipras' visit to moscow appears to have widespread back backing amongst residents in athens. >> translator: i think what he's doing is right. i think he should have all these alliances with russia and the united states and europe. i believe he's making a lot of effort and these efforts will show if he succeeds in writingbringing results. >> shouldn't europe be obliged to help us? they should help us. they should give the government funds. since they are not giveing us funds and created the current situation he is doing the right thing. >> translator: perhaps it's a way of pressuring greece's partners if there is no agreement on the bailouts. >> let's speak to our moscow correspondent, kevin connolly and ask him whether russia was a viable source of funding for greece. >> you take into account the h

mr. tsipras and that includes things to come out of mr.aroufakis free if we learned anything is that member of -- mr. varoufakis can sometimes be contradicted if not contradicted undercut by mr. tsipras. a lot of the finance ministers when they meet in brussels they prefer to deal with mr. tsipras because they think yes the final word. -- they think he has the final word. jonathan: let's bring in stephanie flanders. stephanie, great to have you with us. my colleague compared this to getting wet when compared in the rain. prepared for default. it's kind of obvious. stephanie flanders: i am surprised that the markets moved print it would be bizarre if they were not making or thinking about it. i'm sure other people should at least be thinking about it. a point i find interesting is that when the new election to happen in in greece, a spike of concern around greece leaving the euro. we are still talking about that. the mood in general is it is less likely. i do not think there are even further away from a default or exit since the day after t

mr. tsipras. mr. ipras may be trying to short-circuit what happened here in riga and cut a deal on the sidelines with angela merkel. in that meeting yesterday, he asked for a short-term deal. that is one bit of frustration. the other frustration is that greece simply hasn't shown enough details. they haven't done enough technical work. as mr. muscovy c said, time is wasting. >> the overall issue is about the regime the present program to deliver reforms we can change. we need jobs and growth in greece. on the other hand, we need to think about further arrangements which could come afterwards. this is why it must be a coherent and strong exchange of views leading to a maturation in the process. hans: mr. dijsselbloem said that it was incumbent upon greece and that greece is going to be feeling the pressure to cut a deal faster than european partners. mr. schaeuble seemed to express some confusion on why we are here. he said there wasn't going to be a deal and we should just enjoy the city behind me. may

mr. tsipras expressed confidence that the deal is close. erday markets were jubilant after the news on mr. varafoukis being sidelines. but he said that if the final deal on the table is not in line with his own party's campaign pledges to end austerity, then greek people may have to decide on whether to approve it or not. this is not the first time that the government hints that it may hold a referendum. tsipras knows that any agreement with creditors would require concessions. and his own party's back ledgers are not in the mood to approve concessions. some of his cabinet ministers are not in the mood to approve concessions. so a way around the problem is a referendum so that mr. tsipras can say, listen guys, the people gave us a mandate to approve this new deal. the challenge for mr. tsipras is how to keep banks open. as soon as he calls a referendum that may result in greece's exit from the euro area. guy: walk us through that referendum process. do you thnk he -- think he could win it? it depends on the concessions. but how clo with that

tsipras, meeting putin. >> we have had two bits of information. mr. tipper us not be asking for financial support -- mr. tsipras may not be asking for financial support. we have an idea of what would be tolerable. russia imposes counter sanctions. this mainly would have to do with fruits and vegetables. 40% of russian strawberries come from greece. what they want is a little bit of relief. they might want some details. there was a possible asset swap. that wasn't on the table. they are open to this idea. we also have a softening of sanctions allowing greece to export some goods to russia. you cannot soften the sanctions. that is the line brussels and berlin wants to hold. jonathan: president putin. what does he hope to get out of this visit? >> the sanctions are about to be renewed. greece is not the only country voicing concerns. two countries, russia and greece, we have a lot of historical ties. both countries will celebrate easter this weekend. they will get strong support from greece. >> the global head of equity strategy we talk about every single day. nothing changes. it is a big unknown. are we st

mr. tsipras was staying at this moscow. 270 euros a night.t there just to give you a flavor of the general german press' view of the jet setting by mr. tsipras, what it is costing the greek state which they fear the german taxpayers are ultimately going to be on the hook for. guy? guy: thank you very much indeed. interesting stuff. hans nichols from beuerlein. let's go to moscow. tony joins us for the russian angle on this. what do the russians potentially want out of this meeting? tony: russian president putin is very keen to increase pressure within the european union to remove the sanctions that have been imposed against russia over the conflict in ukraine. those sanctions required unanimous approval by a member state. even one state deciding it is not worth renewing the sanctions when they come up for renewal in june or july would be a great asset for mr. putin. i think he views greece as the pressure point within the e.u., the weakest link that he can begin to exercise pressure on so that he can achieve his goal. guy: basically from a gr

mr. tsipras's trip to moscow and the fact that while he was there, he repeated the greek government position that it disagrees with the european union sanctions against russia over its alleged interference in eastern ukraine. then the house being this acrimonious row between greece and germany over the question of germany repaying reparations to greece because of the nazi occupation during the second world war. those sorts of disagreements are poisoning the atmosphere and making a resolution on these tricky economic issues all the more difficult. >> barnaby phillips reporting to us live from athens. >> now the founder of a leading indians software company has been sentenced to seven years in prison for one of the largest frauds in the country's corporate history. he his brother and eight others were convicted for a massive accounting fraud. we have more on the verdict from new delhi. >> it's taken six years for this case to come to some kind of end, and the man is expected to go to jail for seven years the big question going forward is how this sentence will actually be served and whether or

mr. tsipras recently. he said, being prime minister is a lot more difficult.iguring that out now. will there be enough time? i know i sound repetitive. every day that passes gets closer to a cash crunch for greece. guy: running out of a runway is what people are talking about. francine: lafarge reported earnings below estimates. holcim reported higher profits. guy: airbus earnings fell in the first quarter. they delivered fewer planes. their output will be higher for the fourth term of 2015. francine: crude prices at royal dutch shell. average crude prices slumped by 49% for the first three months per year. guy: we are going to speak about bond sales and first-quarter profits. that is after the break. francine: join us on twitter. you can tweet us. ♪ francine: welcome to "the pulse." it is a down day for banks. rbs took a larger loss than expected. bnp paribas shares are also trading lower. richard, let's kick it off with you. rbs did not post great figures. richard: it is a loss for the royal bank of scotland. this is a quarterly loss. a year ago, they made a

mr. tsipras and i don't see that changing. >> so 40%, is that the highest probability you see? because that doesn't seem like that much. i mean -- >> well, it's a big change. >> it's a big change certainly. >> yeah, and i think that by next week after we start to see -- especially after the downgrade today when we've seen the fact that gdp numbers in greece are weaker than we had thought, when we see the tax ree receipts coming in are much lower than expected, i think that can go up dramatically. i think you have to be prepared for at the end of this month after the finance ministers meeting and over a weekend because those things always occur on weekends. they don't occur during the m middle of the week, you have to be prepared something untoward is going to happen. >> cynics will say greece is not a big deal, but i would push back and say if greece falls, does that mean spain, italy, portugal, what do you think? if greece goes, what happens? >> guy, i think that's exactly what you have to be prepared for. if greece goes and especially after the course of six or seven months,

mr. tsipras is hope to achieve when he travels to russia. what are your thoughts? greece is not the only country that since people to russia and sometimes it is blown out of proportion what we are hoping for. it is a trip to speak to a friendly company -- country. old countries are -- in both countries are christian majority and we have had traditionally good relations with them and discuss the various issues with them. we offer our services for our common understanding and international relations problems. i do not think it has been reported in some elements of the media as if we are subtly changing where we are focused on which is the european union and the eurozone and sorting things out. we are a major concern with greece's relationship with partners and creditors. and this is not altered in any way by the visit to moscow. guy: you can understand the nervousness because while you may talk of doubt russia being a traditionally friendly ally others may not see moscow like that. euclid tsakalotos: what i am saying it is the greek orthodox easter and blessed are th

mr. tsipras and mr. putin. caroline: on -- anna, what is the russian goal here?t does president putin hope to get out of this visit gekko is just about stirring up tension in the eurozone? >> mr. putin would try to exploit divisions between the eu countries. greece and russia have historical and economic ties. it is also an orthodox country. with all of that, he will try to have someone on his side when the time comes for the sanctions to be renewed. also, it helps his profile that it is not just you who is deciding. caroline: a long-time relationship that we have to keep in mind. anything concrete? we heard hands -- weird hans talking about train being increased or sanctions being reduced, what do we think will be tangible? anna: yesterday, the kremlin spokesman said he doesn't rule out some loans and discounts. but honestly speaking, the russian budget is also stretched out. we have a deficit this year. international reserves are at the level that they were in the previous crisis during 2008-2009. there is not much russia can do in terms of loans, deftly not as

mr. tsipras? otto: no, i don't think that. ms. merkel is not somebody who is acting.e coalition with her. she is not going along the position of trust. this doesn't mean she distrusts him, but she's going along the line what majorities does he have will he get through a certain draft of laws, will he find majorities -- and we heard this from the polls in greece -- will i still get a lot of support and the greek people hope i'm saving them from future austerity? he will say, the others forced us into this default, so let's blame them. and keep in mind merkel definitely doesn't want greece out of the euro. she definitely wasn't -- it is not trust. it is just a question, does it work, can i communicate it, and do i not have huge problems when i help greece? nothing about trust, nothing about personal feelings. she is not that vein. francine: thank you so much for all of that insight. guy: coming up, we are going to talk about the greek people, the latest holding coming out of the country, and why varoufakis is still so popular. ♪ francine: in the last 15 minutes, fitch c

>> we may get a bit more detail in flushing out what was agreed between tsipras and mr.n, i suspect we will have more warm words about cooperation. culturally, historically, economically. mr. putin did observe that trade between the two countries was down 40% last year. there was a lot of ground to be made up. anna: thank you so much for joining us. prime minister tsipras having met with putin yesterday and today sits down with the prime minister of russia. that conversation is coming up a little bit later on today. we will continue to watch those developments and how that feeds into the conversation around the grexit and how it can do a deal to meet the requirements of its creditors. april 24 is the date in the diary that looms large. that is it really for "the pulse." keep it right here on bloomberg television. for our u.s. viewers "surveillance" is up next. for those on this side of the atlantic, we will be debating one of the central issues of this election, the u.k. election europe. the debate takes place at the top of this hour. we will take a short break before th

mr. renzi did not talk about the willingness of the europeans to effectively give greece more rope. to allow alexis tsipraswilling to take steps to reform greece. the open question is if greece can default and stay in the eurozone. matt: i don't think they would let it go that far. i think the germans, as strict as they are, are concerned about the fallout from a default. in my mind, the question is how will they bring greece -- allow it to go to the brink in a way that they get someone in power that they can deal with. the problem with power -- is that he is not doing the work necessary to stay in the eurozone. it is not so much about the agreements as it is about doing the homework and handing it in on time. apparently the track record has not been great. erik: he told brendan that as far as he is concerned, he is a powerful man inside germany. which is the most powerful country