Greece is playing the Russia card earlier than expected

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has rescheduled a meeting with his Russian counterpart one month before it was due to take place.

Tsipras will now meet with Putin on April 8 as Athens seeks to secure financial lifeboat amid worsening relations with its European creditors.

Greece's ties with Germany reached a new low over the weekend when a video appeared to show its finance minister "giving the finger" to Germany.

The widely-circulated clip shows Yanis Varoufakis speaking at an event in Zurich. Referring to Greece's economic bailout programme some years earlier, Varoufakis says:

"Greece should simply announce that it is defaulting, just like Argentina did, within the euro in January 2010, and stick the finger to Germany and say 'well now you can solve this problem by yourself.'"

The minister said he had "never given the finger ever".

Germany's finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has criticised the left-wing government in Athens of destroying confidence in its economy.

The Greek government is already struggling to pay its bills and needs around €1.7bn in finance this month, a total that would rise to €4bn by the end of April if it does not gain access to new finance.

Tsipras has sought to persuade its creditors to release the next part of its bailout package but has yet to convince with Athens' reform proposals.

The Greek PM will have another opportunity at this week's EU summit, but the possibility that Greece could look outside of the European Union for financial assistance appears to be likelier than ever.

Greece's bailout extension expires in June and it will need to gain access to new finance by then at the very latest.

Moscow, along with China, has already offered to consider extending a loan to Athens. Such a deal would likely not involve the stringent austerity measures and economic reforms that would come with finance from its traditional creditors.