Eurozone ministers will today make another attempt to break the deadlock in the Greek debt crisis after the latest talks lasted little more than an hour.
The 19 ministers will return to the negotiating table in Brussels to try and finalise a debt deal and avoid a default by Athens.
Their deliberations will take place alongside a meeting of EU leaders, who are holding a two-day summit in Brussels. They will almost certainly find themselves drawn into the Greek debt negotiations.
Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras also held late-night talks with heads of key creditor institutions in the hope of smoothing over differences on the reforms proposed by Athens.
But by the time Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis sat down with his 18 counterparts across the street, the negotiations had not produced a draft text.
So the finance ministers wound up a meeting on Wednesday evening after barely an hour because no deal was ready for them to talk about.
"We are prepared to work all night, but we had nothing real to work with," one eurozone official told Reuters.
"The loss of trust is becoming extreme... It is hard to see how we can go on."
Finnish finance minister Alexander Stubb told reporters: "It is a negotiation between the institutions and the Greek government.
"We have not been able to throw anything back at anyone because there's nothing on the table."
Another eurozone official told Reuters: "There is less optimism about a deal now than before."
Hopes of a settlement were fading after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cast doubts on Greece's new debt plan on Wednesday.
The new proposals put forward by Athens aim to raise €8bn, mostly through new taxes on the wealthy and businesses, early retirement restrictions, VAT increases and a cut in defence spending.
But the IMF was cautious about the mix of reforms Greece proposed, saying they rely too heavily on tax increases that can hurt the economy.
It wants more spending cuts because of the possible effect of tax rises on businesses.
Mr Tsipras earlier criticised the international lender's position, but conceded further negotiations were needed before any agreement is reached.
"This odd stance seems to indicate that either there is no interest in an agreement or that special interests are being backed," Mr Tsipras wrote on his official Twitter account.
But IMF director Christine Lagarde was adamant the Greek plans were not viable.
"You can't build a programme just on the promise of improved tax collection, as we have heard for the past five years with very little result," she told French Challenges magazine.
Stock markets across Europe have closed down after the IMF's negative reaction to the proposals.
The reforms proposed are in exchange for rescue loans that Greece needs to avoid default on a debt payment due at the end of this month.
If it fails to reach agreement with its creditors the country faces a future outside the eurozone.
Assuming an eleventh-hour deal is thrashed out with the EU and IMF, Mr Tspiras still needs to convince his anti-austerity Syriza party to approve concessions needed to unblock the desperately needed bailout funds.
He only has a slim majority within the Greek parliament and opposition within his own party to proposed concessions means ratification in Greece is by no means assured.
