How Putin stopped a Grexit

French President Francois Hollande maintains Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras were ready to print Drachmas in Russia.

As KeepTalkingGreece.com details, Hollande mentions a phone conservation he had with Russian President Vladimir Putin in summer of 2015, at the peak of the Greek crisis, in a book entitled “Presidents should not talk about such things”.

Hollande received a phone call by Putin who said:

“I want to give you this information. Greece asked us to print Drachmas because they no longer have a printing press for this. I want to tell you that this is something that we do not want.”

The book’s author take the Greek request as proof that Greece was contemplating an exit to the eurozone, known as Grexit.

Hollande wondered why Putin would offer the information. “Probably he [Putin] didn’t want to be considered responsible for the Grexit and to say also that a Grexit was a danger that had to be avoided.”

According to the book, both Germany and the International Monetary Fund wanted Greece out of the eurozone.

In a phone conversation between French Finance Minister Michel Sapin and President Hollande, the two discussed the issue:

Sapin: “Germans are sticking to the argument that the Greek debt is not sustainable.”

Hollande: “They are able to do so. There is a statement by Merkel saying debt relief is out of the question.”

[…]

Hollande: “Lagarde [Christine Lagarde, IMF director] is in favor of Grexit. She told me so with arguments that have some basis: she believes that with such debt Greece cannot be rescued and it is better off the eurozone. Lagarde is polite but she is under pressure by the US administration and the IMF.”

Authors of the book are two Le Monde journalists Davet and Llomme and it is based on Hollande’s confessions to them.

Speaking to Greek media, government sources confirmed that there were contacts with President Putin but that “at no time the Greek PM discussed such an issue.”