France’s Sapin says Greece has no future outside the euro

Greece has no future outside the euro but it is legitimate for the country to want to discuss ways to reduce the weight of its debt, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said ahead of a meeting with his Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis on Sunday.

“If a government says ‘we want to stay in the euro,’ that is right. There is no future for Greece outside the euro,” Sapin said on French TV station Canal Plus.

He also reiterated that there is no question of annulling Greece’s debt. “No we will not annul, we can discuss, we can delay, we can reduce its weight, but not annul,” he said.

Sapin will meet Varoufakis in Paris at 5 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) and the two finance ministers will make a joint statement to media at 6.30 p.m.

“That the government would like to discuss ways to reduce the weight of this debt and the reimbursement of this debt, that appears legitimate to me,” Sapin said.

On Thursday, Sapin said that cancelling Greece’s debt would be an aberration, but that a renegotiation is on the table. He said any talks would depend on Greece staying on track with reforms and keeping a balanced budget.

Athens targeted a general government primary budget surplus of 1.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2014.