Any deal between the Greek authorities and its creditors will first require an agreement on the technical details, negotiated by teams of experts from the institutions overseeing Greece’s bailout - the worldwide Monetary Fund, the European Commission and the European Central Bank.

“On behalf of the commission I want to make an appeal to the Greek government to get back to the negotiating table, to make a commitment to the reasonable compromises that have to be made to avoid a fate that would be catastrophic”, Moscovici said at a news conference after the closed-door talks with Greek officials.

Meanwhile, in a move that seemed calculated to irk other European leaders amid tensions with Russian Federation over Ukraine, Tsipras visited Saint Petersburg as the star guest at President Vladimir Putin s investment drive forum.

Eurozone President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said Greece has to take “further steps” to obtain a lasting deal that “needs to hold up in the coming years to be credible”.

Alexis Tsipras said Friday a solution “would be based on European Union rules and democracy, which would allow Greece to return to growth in the euro”.

“The problem is not called Greece, the problem is called eurozone and it concerns its structure”, the Greek leader said. There have been reports of plans to enact capital controls if Athens financial system runs dry.

Asked what measures were being taken to protect the European Union and the currency union member states from damage in the event Greece defaults on its loans and is forced out of the eurozone, Dijsselbloem said that the lenders’ priority was to keep Greece in the alliances but that preparations were underway for all potential “alternatives”.

Negotiations over the reforms have become increasingly acrimonious as the prospect of a default has solidified, with both sides accusing the other of intransigence and making unreasonable demands.

Tsipras warned in an interview with an Austrian newspaper on Friday that a Greek exit would be “the beginning of the end” of the euro.

“The leaders’ summit next Monday is a positive development on the road toward a deal”, Tsipras’ office said in a statement.

The Athens stock exchange ended the day up 0.57 percent after falling sharply earlier in the week.

One source described the 90-minute Eurogroup talks on Thursday as “tragic”, saying that Greece had not even raised the issue of a possible bailout extension.