Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has said that he is "optimistic" that the country will reach an agreement with the EU.

Mr Tsipras and his party has promised to renegotiate the terms of the county's €240bn bailout.

At a joint press conference with European Parliament President, Martin Schulz - he reiterated that Greece respects the rules of the EU.

He said that he was happy with how the talks had gone: "I'm very optimistic... Of course we don't have an agreement yet, but we are going in the right direction."

Mr Schulz was also positive about the meeting, saying:

"Mr Tsipras is battling for European cooperation, not only seeking a solution for Greece. He has my full support."

He added that while the talks had been fruitful, difficult decisions will have to be made.

Greek finance minister Yannis Varoufakis is in Frankfurt meeting ECB President Mario Draghi - this is a continuation of his tour of Europe that has already seen him visit Paris, London and Rome.

Greece is trying to gather support for a plan that would swap the country's EU and IMF loans for new bonds - the repayment of these bonds would be linked to the performance of the Greek economy.

Speaking to an Italian news paper, Mr Varoufakis said that his government needs 6 weeks to compile a full economic plan to present to Europe.