The eurozone has given Greece an ultimatum of one week to request an extension of its bailout deal, as Athens turned down the offer dubbing it “absurd” and “unreasonable”.  

Germany was maintaining a tough line throughout the talks. German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble bluntly said that Greece had lived beyond its means for too long and that Europe could not keep handing over cash without guarantees from the Greeks.

“What I have heard so far has not strengthened my optimism. It seems like we have no results so far. I'm quite skeptical. The Greek government has not moved, apparently,” he said as he arrived for the talks.

The source of the dispute lies in the government of radical left-wing Alexis Tsipras, which was elected in January with a pledge to get rid of the bailout and the crippling austerity measures that have gone with it.

Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek finance minister, said that he was sick of being treated as a “debt colony” and being subjected to “the greatest austerity” for an economy which has been reeling from crisis to crisis.

As the talks finished early, sources in the Greek government slammed the bailout terms as “unreasonable” and “absurd” to news agencies.

The Eurogroup head said there was still time for Greece to agree an extension.

“There is time and ample room to agree on the terms of an extension. When I listen to my Greek colleagues talking about a bridging loan and so on – that's a different word for an extension,” Jeroen Dijsselbloem told journalists.

Another meeting was possible this Friday, he added, but said that it was “up to the Greeks”.

There is little time among Greeks for the troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF, which ordinary Greeks blame for their dire economic situation.

In order to replace the bailout, which was agreed on three years ago, Greece wants a “bridging agreement” worth 21 billion euros, which would allow the new government time to implement radical economic reforms.

Greece is also asking the eurozone to give it treasury bills guaranteed by the European Central Bank (ECB) as well as requesting the freeing up of bonds currently used as bank guarantees in the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund to be used for public financing.