Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras vows country will pay its debts

A day after Greece appeared on a collision course with its creditors, new radical left Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has tamped down the rhetoric by vowing to pay off debts and not act unilaterally.

The olive branch to the nation's creditors comes after new Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis' tense meeting with Eurogroup leader Jeroen Dijsselbloem saying Athens would not extend its bailout past the planned end date of February 28 and would not cooperate with a mission from the lending "troika" of the EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Just hours before Varoufakis headed to Paris yesterday to seek support for a renegotiation of the bailout, Tsipras said he never intended to act unilaterally and expressed his certainty that Greece and the creditors would reach an agreement on its €240 billion (HK$2.09 trillion) bailout.

"No side is seeking conflict, and it has never been our intention to act unilaterally on Greek debt," Tsipras said.

Facing growing disquiet from partners led by Germany, Tsipras earlier rang European Central Bank President Mario Draghi to assure him that Athens was seeking an accord, a government official said.

Varoufakis has talks scheduled with French Finance Minister Michel Sapin, who has already said the EU should be open to discussions with the new Greek government on restructuring its debt or extending bailout terms.

Varoufakis will be travelling to London today. Tsipras, whose first foreign visit will be to Cyprus, will join him tomorrow in Rome before meeting European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and then French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday. France and Italy, the two governments that have pushed hardest to loosen the strict budget austerity imposed at the start of the euro-zone crisis, may offer Varoufakis and Tsipras a sympathetic ear when they visit.