Tonight's meeting between the prime minister Antonis Samaras and government vice president Evangelos Venizelos seems to augur a bad climate between the two main pillars of the government.

The meeting between Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has concluded with the two officials exchanging pleasantries and committing to closer bilateral relations.

The position of Greece against any new horizontal measures and additional taxes was at the focus of what prime minister Antonis Samaras told German chancellor Angela Merkel, in a 20 minute meeting they had on the sidelines of the European Popular Party congress.