No grounds for further talks on Greece before referendum: Eurogroup head

There will be no further talks on Greece either at the Eurogroup level or between Greek authorities and the institutions until after Sunday's referendum, Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Wednesday.

"Given the political situation, the rejection of the previous proposals, the referendum which will take place on Sunday, and the recommendation by the Greek government to vote 'No', we see no grounds for further talks at this point," Dijsselbloem said after Wednesday's Eurogroup conference call, following the previous call on Tuesday.

"We will simply await now the outcome of the referendum on Sunday and take into account the outcome of that referendum," the Eurogroup president added.

In addition, Dijsselbloem said the finance ministers reaffirmed last Saturday's decision to refuse an extension of the old program.

"The political situation has not changed. There are no grounds for an extension. So unfortunately the program expired last night at midnight," he said.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was reported to have said his government was prepared to accept creditors' draft proposals with some concessions.

Earlier in the day, the Greek government released the latest proposals requesting to maintain a 30-percent discount of value-added tax rates on islands, while agreeing to reduce the expenditure ceiling for military spending by 200 million euros (222 million U.S. dollars) in 2016 and 400 million euros in 2017.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the proposals displayed no further clarity on what Greece wanted.

Tsipras, however, vowed he would vote a firm "No" in Sunday's referendum to the creditors' offer in his televised address to the nation later on Wednesday before the Eurogroup's teleconference, which did not include Greece.

The leftist Greek leader rejected the interpretation that a "No" vote would lead to a Grexit and allegations that his government had a secret agenda to push Greece out of the European common currency zone.

He called on Greek citizens not to become "Yes Men" and "become accomplices to the continuation of the memoranda," assuring them that the current difficulties were temporary and that deposits, pensions, and salaries would not be lost.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also said on Wednesday that there would be no negotiation over a new bailout program to Greece before the country's referendum on Sunday, though the door for talks remained open.

"We are waiting for the referendum. Before the referendum, there will be no negotiation over a new aid program," she told the lower house of German parliament in a special session, adding that "we can wait calmly... Europe is strong, much stronger than five years ago when the European sovereign debt crisis started."

"The future of Europe is not at stake," she said.

Merkel reiterated that the door to talks with the Greek government "was always and will always remain open," but she would not seek compromise at any cost. (1 euro = 1.11 U.S. dollars) Enditem