“Stop gambling” was the message sent to the Greek government on Thursday, while Reuters reported that the entire Greek delegation was headed home only a day after hopes were raised for some type of framework deal to free up bailout cash.

Nevertheless, Reuters quoted another official it claims “is close to the negotiations” as saying the IMF decision shouldn’t be viewed with excessive pessimism, as it may represent a break in talks not their end.

It was European Council President Donald Tusk who uttered the “gambling” phrase.

“There is no more time for gambling. The day is coming, I’m afraid, that someone says that the game is over,” he told a news conference after chairing an EU-Latin America summit .

“It is very obvious that we need decisions, not negotiations,” Tusk said.

Meanwhile, EU officials described talks the day before between EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Alexis Tsipras as a “last attempt” to reach a debt deal.

Two other high-profile quotes, one by Juncker and the other by Pierre Moscovici, on the Greek issue also made headlines.

“I’m a big fan of Greek tragedy, but now we really have to move on to a happy ending,” EU economics commissioner Moscovici, told French radio, while adding: “Nobody wants Greece to leave the eurozone.”

On his part, Juncker said: “The cow has to get off the ice, but she keeps slipping … We will try to give her another shove today.”