Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said today that any withdrawal of the International Monetary Fund from negotiations on its bailout would not prevent Athens reaching a deal with European creditors.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the IMF makes unacceptable demands that it well knows Greece cannot agree to in order to justify it leaving the negotiations," Varoufakis said in an interview with Realnews.
The minister stressed however that this departure "would not prevent an agreement between only Athens and the Europeans".
The country's creditors along with the IMF are the European Union and the European Central Bank.
Greek and EU-IMF negotiators were locked in last-chance talks today to avert a default by Athens that could pave the way for a catastrophic exit by Greece from the euro and sow economic chaos in Europe.
