Greece's new leftist government is fine-tuning a 10-point plan aimed at persuading its international creditors to reluctantly rethink their bailout terms and prevent the country from going bust.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faced a late-night confidence vote in parliament on Tuesday over his policies, but while he was expected to ace his first domestic political test, time to woo the holders of the purse strings was running out.
As Tsipras prepared for a week of high-stake diplomatic negotiations, his outspoken energy and environment minister Panagiotis Lafazanis threw down the gauntlet to the EU and paymaster Germany.
"If someone dares to issue an ultimatum, they should know they have picked the wrong country, the wrong people, and the wrong government," he said in a warning shot to Berlin's Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has so far cold-shouldered Athens' proposals.
Tsipras is pushing for creditors to soften the tough conditions of the 240 billion euro ($A346 billion) bailout that Greece accepted during the financial crisis.
At an emergency meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Wednesday, Greece will plead its case for stop-gap financing with a view to clinching a reform deal that will not exacerbate poverty, to run from September 1.
Defence Minister Panos Kammenos warned that if negotiations with the eurozone fail, the country will go to a "Plan B", which could involve asking for funding from the United States, Russia or China.
But government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis flatly denied that was an option, saying that "our relations with the EU are non-negotiable. Nobody is discussing a change of direction".
According to a finance ministry source, the government is ready to co-operate on 70 per cent of its bailout obligations but wants to overhaul the remaining 30 per cent - which it would replace with the 10-step plan.
It will offer a series of measures including lower budget surplus targets and cutting debt through a swap plan to replace its current EU-IMF bailout deal obligations.
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