1st LD Writethru: Greek, German finance ministers disagree at first encounter

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and his Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis acknowledged lack of progress at their first meeting on Thursday in Berlin as new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Varoufakis are lobbying across Europe for a solution to the country's debt problem.

"We agreed to disagree," said Schaeuble at a joint press conference, adding a haircut of Greece's debt was not on the table.

He also said that some of the measures that have been announced by the Greek new government "don't necessarily go in the right direction," adding that it is important to implement existing agreements.

"Some measures proposed by Greece do not go in the direction we approve," Schaeuble said.

Varoufakis, while pledging that Greece would be a reliable partner for the EU, said the new Greek government is seeking a temporary bridging finance program between now and May as well as a new agreement with international creditors afterwards.

Greek debt exceeds 320 billion euros (365 billion U.S. dollars), or 175 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). The Greek government has been negotiating with international creditors on its bailout deal. It has to get access to additional bailout funds by the end of this month to avoid a default on maturing loans. Endit