Greece 's prime minister has had an audience with Vladimir Putin , amid fears Europe will no longer rescue his country 's ailing economy . Alexis Tsipras met the Russian President in Moscow yesterday and the pair agreed a package of investment in energy and other projects . But Mr Tsipras insisted he had not asked for – or received – financial aid , saying Greece is a 'sovereign nation ' and 'not a debt colony ' . Meeting : Greece 's prime minister met Vladimir Putin yesterday and struck potential deals over investment in energy and other projects . It was expected Mr Tsipras ( left ) would ask Mr Putin ( right ) for a hand-out . Greece 's government , the most left-wing ever elected in Europe , has been handed a list of reforms it must carry out in return for a new injection of cash from Eurozone countries . Propped up by some £175billion of aid from Europe and the IMF since 2010 , Greece has not received bailout funds since Syriza took power in January , and could run out of money within weeks . It was expected Mr Tsipras would ask Mr Putin for a hand-out - despite Russia 's economy also suffering deeply under Western and US sanctions imposed after the invasion of Crimea . But instead the meeting saw a commitment to restore trade between the two countries , which had been significant before both were hit by economic woes . The Greek Prime Minister said , defending his visit : 'Greece is a sovereign state with an indisputable right to its own foreign policy . 'Greece is not a beggar to go around all the countries asking them to help resolve its financial problems . ' He said he would not be thrown 'off the boat ' by the Eurozone , saying : 'We are equal passengers . There is no higher or lower deck . We are not a debt colony , we have the same rights as other countries have . ' Moving forward : Mr Putin ( right , with Mr Tsipras ) said Russia could also provide loans for projects including a gas pipeline via Turkey , which was shelved last year as relations between Moscow and the EU deteriorated . Mr Putin said the leaders had discussed 'various ways of co-operating , including major projects in energy ' and said Russia 'could provide loans ' for projects including a potential gas pipeline via Turkey , which was shelved last year amid deteriorating relations between Mr Putin and the EU . 'This is not about aid but about financial cooperation in major projects….of course we are interested in pipelines , ports , and airports , as well as energy generation and other resources ' , Mr Putin said . Top of the agenda were restoring Greece 's exports of food – such as vegetables and cheese - which stopped after Moscow slapped an embargo on them , in response to EU sanctions . Mr Putin suggested this could be lifted , restore the livelihoods of Greek farmers . Experts said Greece could get a discount on gas – most of which it imports from Russia . It is thought Mr Tsipras intended to ratchet up the pressure on his European creditors particularly Germany , to draw him away from Mr Putin 's sphere of influence . A Greek repayment of around £325million is due today . Greece claims Germany owes them many times this sum in reparations for the Nazi invasion for which they were not sufficiently compensated .
Prime minister Vladimir Putin had been expected to ask for hand-out . But he insisted he did not ask for aid , saying Greece was 'not a beggar ' Instead he and Alexis Tsipras agreed to look at a package of investments .