Athens
Europe is splitting at the seams over the Greek crisis, with growing evidence of a rift over Tuesday night's crucial meeting in Brussels on a new bailout deal.
The near-bankrupt country needs a financial lifeline within days, amid reports that its banks will stay shut until at least Thursday – and are likely to run out of cash altogether by the end of the week.
One Greek minister said there was only 48 hours before his country could be forced to leave the euro.
Greece's prime minister and its new finance minister Euclid Tsakalotos flew to Brussels with a new proposal to put to lenders, and the heads of the Eurozone countries.
According to local reports, the new proposal is based on the most recent deal offered by the European Commission – including tax rises.
On Sunday Greece voted to reject Europe's previous austerity-themed rescue package for the near-bankrupt country.
Mr Tsipras intends to use that mandate to argue for a more gradual implementation of some measures, to soften the blow on the Greek people, Kathimerini reported.
French president Francois Hollande met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris on Monday evening, and said the "door was open" for new negotiations over Greece's debts.
"It is now up to the government of Alexis Tsipras to make serious, credible proposals so that this willingness to stay in the Eurozone can translate into a lasting programme," Mr Hollande said.
"Time is running out and there is urgency for Greece and the Eurozone."
Ms Merkel said they were waiting for "very precise proposals" from the Greek prime minister, and "a programme that will allow Greece to return to prosperity."
Spain's finance minister, Luis de Guindos, said he was "absolutely not contemplating" that Greece could leave the euro, and he was open to negotiating a third rescue package which was "absolutely necessary".
But there were also plenty of voices in northern Europe saying a more generous deal for Greece was not on the table.
Netherlands' prime minister Mark Rutte, said Greece would have to accept deep reforms if it wants to remain in the Eurozone. Mr Rutte said Greece should not get any rescue deal without committing to reform.
"If things stay the way they are, then we're at an impasse," he said.
German MP Klaus-Peter Willsch, from Merkel's own CDU party, wrote in the London Telegraph that "the only thing which can help Greece is a (perhaps temporary) exit from the Eurozone".
"Greece's exit should come first, before assistance is provided by its European partners," he said.
"Greece would endure a few years of hardship but then people would be able to see light at the end of the tunnel."
Monday began with the surprise resignation of finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, the confrontational economics professor who proved a necessary sacrifice in bringing Europe and Greece's creditors back to the negotiating table.
He literally jumped on his motorbike and drove out of Athens, leaving his colleagues locked in talks with other Greek political parties about tactics ahead of Tuesday's emergency Euro summit in Brussels.
Mr Varoufakis has been replaced by Oxford-educated economist Euclid Tsakalotos, who said he was "nervous and anxious" about the challenge he faced in finding a viable solution for Greece.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met with his political allies and opponents for almost five hours on Monday, emerging with a joint statement signed by almost the entire political spectrum backing his efforts to seek a new deal from the country's creditors.
Large parts of Greece's economy have been paralysed by the capital controls imposed at the start of last week to prevent the collapse of the banks.
Businesses must make special applications to buy goods – such as food, petrol and medicine – from abroad. Many small businesses now demand payment in cash, which is hard in a country where the banks are closed.
Many ATMs are empty and the rest only dispense 60 euros a day per person – in theory, though since they are running short of 20 euro notes, most will now only dispense 50 euros.
Some bank branches opened on Tuesday morning, to pay pensioners without an ATM card.
Public and private businesses said import restrictions were starting to hit – for example newspaper publishers said they only had enough paper left to print until Sunday.
The government is also running out of money to pay public service wages and pensions, and supply hospitals and other public bodies. To reduce financial hardship for citizens it decided to go easy on revenue-raising: in Athens the public transport is free until further notice, and tax collection has "almost dried up" according to one report.
The Kathimerini newspaper reported that banks were estimating they will only remain liquid until Thursday.
Late on Monday the European Central Bank announced it would not provide extra liquidity to Greek banks. Instead, it passed a resolution making it harder for Greek banks to access emergency funds, making their collapse more likely, more quickly.
Greece's economy minister Giorgos Stathakis told the BBC that without extra help from the ECB, the banks could survive until Friday under current withdrawal and transfer restrictions.
He said the country was 48 hours away from deciding whether to leave the Eurozone, if there was no financial lifeline.
Financial markets and analysts – many of whom wrongly predicted a 'Yes' vote in the referendum – were pessimistic on the chances of Greece making a deal and preventing an exit from the Eurozone.
Ratings agency Fitch warned that "time is short and the risk of policy missteps, or that the two sides simply cannot agree a deal, is high".
Greece has already missed a billion-euro interest payment to the IMF, and faces a new deadline of July 20 when it is supposed to repay 3.5 billion euros to the European Central Bank.
But the IMF chose to send a ray of hope, with managing director Christine Lagarde saying it would "stand ready to assist Greece if requested to do so".
