(VOVworld) - Greece’s Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, said in a speech on Friday that his government wanted a deal with the country’s creditors but that it would not enforce additional austerity measures, like further pension cuts.

Greece’s Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras

Tsipras said that he wants to reassure the Greek people that there is no possibility or chance that the Greek government will back down on pension and labor issues. Greece and its international creditors have been locked in negotiations aimed at releasing billions of euros of loans since February, when the European portion of the country’s 240 billion euro bailout was extended by four months. Greece is short of money because of the deadlock, fueling fears that it will default on its debt, which totals around 320 billion euro, and possibly exit the eurozone with largely unforeseeable repercussions.