Germany Turns Up Pressure on Greece as Cash Crunch Looms

Germany and its allies turned up the pressure on Greece to accept their conditions to stay in the euro as the region’s top finance officials descended on Brussels to hammer out a deal.

An agreement on extending Greece’s bailout program, which expires at the end of February, appears unlikely, a European Union official said. That would lead to more talks Sunday or Monday, the official said. A preliminary round was proving “very difficult,” Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who heads the Eurogroup, told reporters.