A charm offensive by Greece's prime minister this week calmed bruised relations with Germany, but pressure remains on Athens to deliver on promised reforms.
Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will plead with European counterparts at a summit in Brussels to release vital funds to help his debt-laden country.
The Greek parliament overwhelmingly adopted a "humanitarian crisis" bill to help its poorest people, ignoring apparent pressure from the European Union to halt the legislation.
The European Union must not compromise with Russia over sanctions in response to the Ukraine crisis, the bloc's chief Donald Tusk said in an interview.
EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has warned of an alarming lack of progress in talks on Greece's bailout, as Germany raised the spectre of a tumultuous Greek exit from the euro.
The European Union's foreign policy chief said an Iran nuclear deal was "at hand" and urged different sides to show political will ahead of a new round of talks.
Greece was expected to bid for extra debt crisis aid from the EU without strings attached, ahead of a closely-watched ECB meeting on the country's emergency funds.
Russian MPs spoke out and fans launched a Twitter campaign after the European Union slapped sanctions on a popular singer often compared to Frank Sinatra.
Greece's radical new government was fine-turning details of a controversial reform deal it hopes to seal with sceptical EU creditors at critical talks.