Greek finance minister calls for quick deal

BERLIN (Reuters) - Greece and its lenders need to seal an agreement on a cash-for-reforms deal urgently, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, said on Monday, adding that European leaders had an "historic duty" to act. "What we need is an agreement quickly, we need to avert an accident that would be a mistake," Varoufakis said during a speech on "Greece's future in the EU" in Berlin. "History would take it down as a failure of the political class of the EU ... Dr Schaeuble, Mrs Merkel, Mr Tsipras, Mr Juncker, the whole political class - we have an historic duty not to allow this to happen," he said. The Greek government has said it is ready to negotiate a settlement acceptable to both sides by the end of this month, when Greece's bailout programme expires and the country faces the prospect of defaulting on its debts. (Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Kevin Liffey)