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Government sources on Wikileaks claim of alleged Tsipras request to Putin

A government source on Thursday denied claims made in a recently published book on French President Francois Hollande, according to which Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras may have asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for assistance in order to print a Greek currency.

Replying to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA), the source said that there had been contacts between the two leaders at that time "but at no time was such an issue raised by the Greek prime minister. On the contrary, it was commonly agreed that the only realistic path was for Greece to remain in the Eurozone."
According to the book on Hollande, the French president allegedly mentioned that Putin had told him that "Greece asked us to print drachmas in Russia because they do not have such a press."

Government sources also provided clarifications, in response to ANA questions about the Podesta e-mails posted by Wikileaks on October 7, noting that Tsipras contacted former U.S. president Bill Clinton before Greece's July 2015 referendum on bailouts but spoke only to U.S. President Barack Obama afterward. The leaked Podesta e-mails revealed that Obama's office had reached out to Bill Clinton via John Podesta, Clinton's former chief of staff, asking whether he might be able to persuade Tsipras to sign a bailout deal.

Podesta, who currently heads the Hillary Clinton campaign, is shown contacting Clinton's office to ask whether the former president, referred to as WJC for Willian Jefferson Clinton, was willing and able to step in.

"i’m on a train and hard to talk by phone. White House asked me whether WJC had enough of a relationship with PM Tsipras to call him and counsel him to make a deal. Can you ask him whether that’s in the realm of possibility. If yes, I can talk to him after I’m off the train and explain their thinking and what they are hoping to accomplish. Thanks."
Clinton's office sent a message back indicating that Clinton was initially amenable but requesting additional information, including whether the same pressures would be applied to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.