BRUSSELS (Dow Jones)--The 17 euro-zone leaders may hold a special meeting Monday to discuss Greece, following the main summit of all 27 European Union leaders, a European official told Dow Jones Newswires Friday. "A euro-area summit has not been called yet," the official said, added that "it may not be called at all, it may just happen without announcement." He also said there was optimism that talks between Greece and its private-sector creditors to halve its debt would be completed before Monday. "No deal has been finalized quite yet but we can still expect one before the [Monday] summit," the person said. Officials in Brussels and Berlin have emphasized over the past few days that the EU-wide summit planned for Monday isn't to be about Greece. Instead, it is to focus on how to bring growth and jobs back to the ailing European economy. It is becoming increasingly likely, however, that euro-zone leaders will have to convene to talk about Greece's deal with its private-sector creditors, an issue that has dragged on for four weeks. "There's an elephant in the room, and that elephant is Greece. If there's news about the elephant, you have to talk about it," the European official said, adding that the Greek finance minister "will most probably be in Brussels on Monday" for this purpose. "They [the euro-zone leaders] will probably have a separate meeting on Greece late Monday. All leaders have been asked to be prepared," a second person who will participate in the summit said. -By Matina Stevis and Costas Paris, Dow Jones Newswires; 0032-0-27411483; matina.stevis@dowjones.com

Source