text: Greece's prime minister has had an audience with Vladimir Putin, amid fears Europe will no longer rescue his country's ailing economy. Alexis Tsipras met the Russian President in Moscow yesterday and the pair agreed a package of investment in energy and other projects. But Mr Tsipras insisted he had not asked for – or received – financial aid, saying Greece is a 'sovereign nation' and 'not a debt colony'. Meeting: Greece's prime minister met Vladimir Putin yesterday and struck potential deals over investment in energy and other projects. It was expected Mr Tsipras (left) would ask Mr Putin (right) for a hand-out . Greece's government, the most left-wing ever elected in Europe, has been handed a list of reforms it must carry out in return for a new injection of cash from Eurozone countries. Propped up by some £175billion of aid from Europe and the IMF since 2010, Greece has not received bailout funds since Syriza took power in January, and could run out of money within weeks. It was expected Mr Tsipras would ask Mr Putin for a hand-out - despite Russia's economy also suffering deeply under Western and US sanctions imposed after the invasion of Crimea. But instead the meeting saw a commitment to restore trade between the two countries, which had been significant before both were hit by economic woes. The Greek Prime Minister said, defending his visit: 'Greece is a sovereign state with an indisputable right to its own foreign policy. 'Greece is not a beggar to go around all the countries asking them to help resolve its financial problems.' He said he would not be thrown 'off the boat' by the Eurozone, saying: 'We are equal passengers. There is no higher or lower deck. We are not a debt colony, we have the same rights as other countries have.' Moving forward: Mr Putin (right, with Mr Tsipras) said Russia could also provide loans for projects including a gas pipeline via Turkey, which was shelved last year as relations between Moscow and the EU deteriorated . Mr Putin said the leaders had discussed 'various ways of co-operating, including major projects in energy' and said Russia 'could provide loans' for projects including a potential gas pipeline via Turkey, which was shelved last year amid deteriorating relations between Mr Putin and the EU. 'This is not about aid but about financial cooperation in major projects….of course we are interested in pipelines, ports, and airports, as well as energy generation and other resources', Mr Putin said. Top of the agenda were restoring Greece's exports of food – such as vegetables and cheese - which stopped after Moscow slapped an embargo on them, in response to EU sanctions. Mr Putin suggested this could be lifted, restore the livelihoods of Greek farmers. Experts said Greece could get a discount on gas – most of which it imports from Russia. It is thought Mr Tsipras intended to ratchet up the pressure on his European creditors particularly Germany, to draw him away from Mr Putin's sphere of influence. A Greek repayment of around £325million is due today. Greece claims Germany owes them many times this sum in reparations for the Nazi invasion for which they were not sufficiently compensated.
target: Prime minister Alexis Tsipras had been expected to ask for hand-out .
  But he insisted he did not ask for aid, saying Greece was 'not a beggar'
  Instead he and Vladimir Putin agreed to look at a package of investments .