The Greek Finance Minister has called on Ireland to support his country's position in last ditch talks to prevent his country's exit from the Euro.

Writing in today's Irish Times, Yanis Varoufakis, asked if the eurozone would be a better place if Greece was - as he put it - "thrown to the wolves".

EU leaders meet on Monday for a crisis summit.

But time is running out, as Greece must find 1.6 billion euro to repay the International Monetary Fund within the next fortnight, or risk a default which would force it out of the eurozone.

Meanwhile, Russia's president is criticising the European Union over its handling of the Greek debt crisis.

Vladimir Putin claims European politicians should be focusing on helping the country restore economic growth.