France's Hollande says Greece, EU 'must move fast'

BRUSSELS - French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday urged Greece and its EU-IMF creditors to move fast to secure a long delayed deal to unlock urgently needed bailout cash by the end of the month.

"We will only have one message: we must now move quickly, we must not relent, we must not allow solutions that would be bad for Greece, for the European Union and for the eurozone," Hollande said as he arrived for an EU-Latin American summit, which Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is also attending.

"Let's work, go fast and conclude," he said.

Hollande added that he and Merkel remained open to meet Tsipras on the sidelines of the summit.

"If on the margins we can discuss Greece with (German Chancellor Angela) Merkel and other leaders, as well as Prime Minister Tsipras, who want to discuss Greece, we will do it," he said.

Greece on Tuesday submitted a new reform plan but the EU dismissed it earlier Wednesday, while talks between Tsipras and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker a week ago failed to produce a breakthrough.