Five months of back-and-forth talks, negotiations and deliberations between the SYRIZA government in Athens and institutional creditors appear to come down to this weekend, with deadlines near the end.

On Thursday German Chancellor Angela Merkel told European centre-right party leaders that a deal is necessary before markets open on Monday, Reuters quoted two participants in the meeting as saying.

Moreover, he was also quoted as saying that Germany “will not be blackmailed by Greece”. The alleged comments came before leaders of the European People’s Party, with former Greek premier Antonis Samaras in attendance.

FinMin comprising the Eurogroup will reconvene on Saturday, after ending with yet another inconclusive session on Thursday.

On his part, the head of the euro area’s group of finance minister,  Jeroen Dijsselbloem,  said the “door is still open” for Greece.

“That’s it for today. Institutions and Greece to continue work,” Finland’s Finance Minister Alexander Stubb said in a twitter message. “Eurogroup back later, but not today.”

Conversely, EU President Donald Tusk was on a more upbeat mood, saying he feels that talks to reach a deal will end soon with a positive outcome.

“For now, I can only say, that work is underway and for sure it will need still many hours,” Tusk said, as he arrived for a two-day EU leaders summit in Brussels.

“The last hours have been critical but I have a good hunch that unlike in Sophocles’ tragedies this Greek story will have a happy end,” he noted.