Greece and its creditors are at loggerheads again after the new Athens government insisted it would not back down over renegotiating its massive bailout, sparking fresh jitters on financial markets over fears of a euro exit.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's request for emergency EU funding to tide the country over while it renegotiates its huge debt left the European Commission and paymaster Germany cold.
Instead, European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Monday called on the Greek government to be realistic, saying it "must not assume that the overall mood in Europe has changed so much that the eurozone will unconditionally adopt the government programme of Tsipras".
Juncker also said he did not expect any new deal on Athens' demands to be reached at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, despite Tsipras saying he was "optimistic that we can reach a compromise".
The new leftist Greek premier's approach also appeared to baffle German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.
"If they want our help, there needs to be a program" agreed with creditors, rather than emergency assistance, the German minister said, adding: "I still don't understand how they (Greece) want to do it."
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said he would go to Brussels as "neither a 'yes man' nor a 'no man'", but promised to temper his aim to please the Greek people with his "duty to find a solution".
Varoufakis will meet fellow eurozone finance ministers on Wednesday.
A finance ministry source said Greece wants a new economic deal with its EU creditors to enter into force from September 1, which must include social support measures and more realistic budget goals.
The new left-wing government is only prepared to deliver a surplus of 1.5 per cent of output, rather than the 4.0 per cent forecasted for 2016 under the previous conservative administration, the source said.
But the government's overtures have fallen on deaf ears, with British Prime Minister David Cameron moving to draw up contingency plans for a Greek exit from the euro, or "Grexit", and Germany snubbing the request for aid.
Fears that the country is heading into the financial mire were fuelled by Tsipras's rousing speech to parliament on Sunday, in which he swore he would stick to his anti-austerity guns.
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