DHAKA: Greece’s finance minister Yanis Varoufakis declared he was ready to do ‘whatever it takes’ to reach agreement over its bailout after the collapse of talks with EU finance ministers.

Varoufakis spoke after Greece rejected an EU offer to extend its current €240bn bailout, a plan he called ‘absurd’ and ‘unacceptable’.

He said he was prepared to agree a deal but under different conditions.

But the head EU negotiator warned there were now just days left for talks.

Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem said it was now ‘up to Greece’ to decide if it wanted more funding or not.

‘My strong preference is and still is to get an extension of the programme, and I think it is still feasible,’ Dijsselbloem told a press conference after the talks collapsed, reports the BBC.

Greece’s current bailout expires on 28 February. Any new agreement would need to be approved by national governments, so time is running out to reach a compromise.

Without a deal Greece is likely to run out of money.

BDST: 1238 HRS, FEB 17, 2015