U.S. President Obama says debt relief, reforms needed for Greek recovery

ATHENS (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he would continue to stress to Greece's European partners that austerity alone could not help the country emerge from crisis and that debt relief was necessary along with reforms. "To the rest of Europe, I will continue to emphasise our view that austerity alone cannot deliver prosperity," he said during a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Athens. "It is going to be important both with respect to debt relief and other accomodative strategies to help Greek people in this period of adjustment," he said. Obama also said that the United States would encourage a just and durable solution in Cyprus. (Reporting by Jeff Mason)