The head of the Independent Greeks party says the country will not seek a bailout extension in Athens’s first reaction to a Brussels ultimatum, which gives the debt-ridden country until the end of the week to make a decision about it.

“We will not request any extension, we have a public mandate to go to the end. The Greeks together say no, we will not be blackmailed," said Panos Kammenos, also the country’s defense minister, on Monday.

The remarks by the Independent Greeks party, the nationalist partner in Greece's coalition government, followed collapse of talks between Greece and Europe’s finance ministers, AFP reported.

Brussels talks collapse

The talks aimed at reaching a new deal based on Greece's bailout, held in the EU’s de facto capital on Monday, fell through after Athens rejected the EU’s proposal.

The EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that the conditions of Greece’s bailout loan would not be susceptible to change and that Greece should seek a 6-month extension.

Greece referred to the new bailout proposal as “absurd” and “unacceptable”.

The Eurogroup head, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said that Greece still had time to accept an extension.

"There is time and ample room to agree on the terms of an extension. When I listen to my Greek colleagues talking about a bridging loan and so on - that's a different word for an extension," said Dijsselbloem.

He went on to say that if the Greeks were willing, another meeting could be scheduled for this Friday.

"My strong preference is and still is to get an extension of the program, and I think it is still feasible," he said during a press conference.

Finance minister hits back

During a press conference after the meeting, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis complained that Dijsselbloem had refrained from discussing an executive European Commission proposal, which would have given Greece a four-month breathing space, in return for a halt on key policy changes by the government.

He went on to say that the fall through is only temporary.

"I have no doubt that within the next 48 hours Europe is going to come together and we shall find the phrasing that is necessary so that we can submit it and move on to do the real work that is necessary," Varoufakis stated.

Greece’s current bailout is set to expire on February 28.

In 2010, Greece enforced severe budget cuts in return for a 240-billion euro (USD 270-billion) bailout from the troika of lenders - the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB).

SRK/NT