Pessimism amid Greece talks

Greece and its international creditors looked set for an epic showdown as eurozone finance ministers began crucial talks in Brussels on Monday meant to stave off a much-feared "Grexit."

Monday's negotiations in Brussels are seen as one of the last off-ramps for Greece as the debt-ridden nation races towards an end-of-February deadline to extend its controversial bailout program - or risk shooting off the precipice of bankruptcy.

Low expectations, but sign of thaw?

Both sides dug in their heels ahead of the talks, with Athens repeating calls for a substantial easing of the repayment terms of its 240 billion euros (nearly $274 billion) in rescue loans, provided by other euro member states and the International Monetary Fund. Recently-elected Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has also said he wants to scrap the existing bailout deal and replace it with a new one, while calling for a stop-gap agreement that would keep Athens solvent after February 28, when the current bailout ends.

Though expectations that the group's 19 finance ministers will strike a quick deal are low, some negotiating partners did show signs of softening their stance, amid the threat of Greece's impending eurozone exit - or "Grexit" - which some fear could unleash a new flurry of fiscal panic on the currency union just as it is slowly clawing its way back from years of economic crisis.

Arriving for the meeting, EU Economics Commissioner, and former French Finance Minister, Pierre Moscovici told reporters that the "only aim" was to keep Greece in the euro zone, fully respecting its commitments to creditors, but also "taking into account the program that the Greek voters chose." Sounding an upbeat note, he added that he saw "the capacity to conclude [the talks] positively."

That sentiment was shared by Moscovici's successor, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin, who urged Athens to extend the current debt deal - a move he said would buy extra time to negotiate a more permanent solution to the crisis.

Speaking before the meeting, he said European leaders must respect the will of the Greek people. Last month, the country's leftist Syriza party won 36 percent of the popular vote on a pledge to end years of what many Greeks see as crippling austerity measures.

Athens "behaving pretty irresponsibly"

This week's high-stakes negotiations come after preparatory talks on Saturday revealed a deeper-than-expected rift between the two sides. People involved in those talks told business daily Financial Times that "Athens raised far more objections to the existing bailout" than in the past, while one EU official complained to Bloomberg Business that "the Greeks showed very little knowledge of the content of the current bailout deal."

In light of the weekend's events, Germany's Finance Minsiter Wolfgang Schäuble, an outspoken critic of the Tsipras administration's anti-austerity populism, took a less conciliatory stance as he arrived in Brussels. Schäuble reiterated scepticism that Monday's talks would yield a constructive outcome.

"What I have heard so far has not strengthened my optimism. It seems like we have no results so far. I'm quite sceptical. The Greek government apparently has not moved at all" in its demands.

Earlier in the day, the fiscally hawkish Finance Minister had told German public radio station Deutschlandfunk that Athens was in no position to make demands.

"The problem is that Greece has lived beyond its means for a long time and nobody wants to give Greece money anymore without guarantees."

In the interview, Schäuble also said he felt "sorry" for the Greeks: "They've elected a government that's behaving pretty irresponsibly at the moment."

"My guess is that it's all a big game of poker for this new government," he added, warning that Athens had no choice but to take the necessary steps if it wanted to remain in the eurozone.

Not a "bargaining game"

Returning to European Union headquarters in Brussels on Monday, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis refused to speak to comment. However, an op-ed published in the New York Times just hours ahead of the meeting provided a window into his thinking.

The Finance Minister, a former economics professor, refuted claims that Athens was acting irresponsibly and that it would "be pure folly to think of the current deliberations between Greece and our partners as a bargaining game to be won or lost via bluffs and tactical subterfuge."

However, he stood by the new leftist-led Greek government's promise to undo years of belt-tightening, writing "We shall desist, whatever the consequences, from deals that are wrong for Greece and wrong for Europe," leaving open the window for a Grexit.

Asking for time, not free ride

In his opinon piece, Varoufakis also fired back against accusations, such as those put forward by Schäuble, one of his staunchest critics, that Athens was trying to skirt its obligations towards its international creditors.

"Our government is not asking our partners for a way out of repaying our debts. We are asking for a few months of financial stability that will allow us to embark upon the task of reforms that the broad Greek population can own and support, so we can bring back growth and end our inability to pay our dues," he wrote.

An opinion poll last week showed that nearly 8 in 10 Greeks back their government's hard-line policies, with 74 percent believeing its negotiating strategy will succeed.

Skepticism that the two sides would strike a deal on Monday sent volatile Greek shares sinking, with the Athens index closing down 3.83 percent, while the eurozone's Euro Stoxx 50 index shed 0.1 percent.