Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem on Monday evening pointed clearly at a Friday deadline for the new Greek government to request an extension of a bailout plan, speaking shortly after a meeting of euro area FinMins ended abruptly and with no compromise in sight.

“The general feeling in the Eurogroup is still that the best way forward would be for the Greek authorities to seek an extension of the programme,” Dijsselbloem told a news conference, which was broadcast live to a mostly nervous audience in Greece.

“That would allow us to work on future arrangements … and allow for the Greeks to use the normal kind of flexibility in a programme, change measures, put other measures into place,” he underlined.

“We can use this week, but that’s about it,” Dijsselbloem added, noting that a “rapidly closing window” appears for the radical leftist government in Athens to extend the bailout past Feb. 28.

“There was a very strong opinion across the eurogroup that the next step has to come from the Greek authorities … we simply need more time. The best way to do that is to extend the current programme.”