Greece and its euro-area partners are stepping up talks in a bid to break an impasse over bailout aid as early as next week, even as the country’s government sent conflicting signals over its willingness to agree on long-stalled reforms, according to Bloomberg news agency.

Fin Min Stathakis is looking for a new deal for the privatization of Greek regional airports, including Chania airport “Daskalogiannis”.

Greece, Israel and the United States have began a joint naval exercise around Crete and the eastern Mediterranean.

A day after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras overhauled his negotiating team in an effort to speed up debt talks and unlock bailout funds benchmarked for Greece, the prime minister said on Tuesday that he might resort to calling a public referendum on any deal with international creditors.