BERLIN — The sometimes shrill discourse between Germany and Greece seemed to be turning more conciliatory this week as it dawned on leaders of Europe’s strongest economy and its weakest that a breakup of the euro zone would be catastrophic for both of them.


As Antonis Samaras, the prime minister of Greece, on Wednesday began a round of meetings with top euro zone officials that will include talks in Berlin on Friday with Chancellor Angela Merkel, chances appeared to be improving that he would win more time to meet terms imposed by official lenders and rebuild the shattered Greek economy.


In an appeal to German popular opinion, which has often been hostile, Mr. Samaras told the country’s most widely read newspaper Wednesday that he needed more time but not more euros.


“All that we want is a little breathing room to get the economy going and increase revenue,” Mr. Samaras told the Bild newspaper. “More time does not automatically mean more money.”


While some leaders of Ms. Merkel’s governing coalition continued to take a hard line, others seemed to be preparing the way to give Greece a little more slack. Germany is unlikely to agree to another full-blown aid package for Greece, but it and other euro zone countries might be willing to ease the financial austerity imposed on the country, if it makes more progress implementing measures designed to improve performance of the economy.


“It is essential that the government in Athens presents a credible plan to implement the measures,” Michael Meister, deputy leader of Ms. Merkel’s Christian Democrat party in Parliament, told the Handelsblatt newspaper. If it did, Mr. Meister said, “maximum flexibility” was possible.


For all their differences, Ms. Merkel and Mr. Samaras have a similar problem. Both are trying to reconcile the expectations of their voters with the choices they know they must make to preserve the euro and prevent Greece from leaving the currency union.


Mr. Samaras, leading a fragile government, must be able to show the Greek people that their sacrifices have been worthwhile and life will begin to get better, said Jürgen Matthes, an economist at the Cologne Institute for Economic Research.


“If he’s able to tell such a narrative, then things could change,” Mr. Matthes said. “People need to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”


There seems to be a growing realization that austerity has already pushed Greece to the limit and any more belt-tightening would simply nourish extremist political parties and undercut tax revenue — making the country's debt problems even worse.


While Greece is often criticized for procrastinating on plans to sell off state assets and reduce the size of the government workforce, it has managed to cut spending about 20 percent. In the United States, that would be the equivalent of more than $1 trillion in budget cuts.


“I can only imagine the debate if we had those kinds of cuts,” Mr. Matthes said.


Adam S. Posen, a U.S. economist who is an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England, said Wednesday that Germany would be undermining its own economy if it allowed the euro to fall apart.


“That would be a very ill-advised move,” Mr. Posen said on BBC television. “Germany’s currency would shoot through the roof. Germany’s trade relations would be disrupted. Germany’s banks would then be on the bailout list instead of poor people in other countries.”


Some members of Ms. Merkel’s government, including Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, have continued to talk tough on Greece. Volker Kauder, head of the Christian Democrat delegation in Parliament, said earlier this week that lawmakers were in no mood to grant concessions to Greece.


Ms. Merkel, who usually likes to keep her options open, has not made her position clear. But Christian Schulz, an economist with Berenberg Bank, said in a research note that Germany and Greece seemed to be moving toward a compromise that might include earlier disbursement of aid payments.