German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble says that by calling for a referendum on the creditors' proposals to keep Greece solvent — and by advising Greeks to reject them — the country appears to have ended the negotiations on its bailout program.
Schaeuble said as he arrived at a meeting with other eurozone finance ministers that "the negotiations apparently have been declared at an end" by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
Schaeuble said that "if I understood correctly ... we now have no basis for further negotiations."
He was looking forward to hear what his Greek counterpart Yanis Varoufakis would have to say about the latest developments.
"We'll see what he says. With Greece, apparently you must never rule out surprises," Schaeuble said. "But to be honest, none of the colleagues I spoke to beforehand sees any possibility for what we can do now."
Earlier, Finland's finance minister, Alexander Stubb, warns that the referendum announcement has brought Greece closer to an exit from the euro, the so-called Plan B if the debt talks fail. The referendum decision would require Greece's creditors, which include eurozone states, to extend the country's bailout program by a few days.
He says that "there is pretty much a consensus inside the eurogroup that we cannot extend the program as it stands," he said. "Consequently I would argue that Plan B becomes Plan A."
He says the eurozone finance ministers meeting Saturday should now discuss a Greek exit from the single currency.
He added: "I think that's the only option we have to discuss because there's nothing else on the table."
And the EU's economics and monetary affairs chief, Pierre Moscovici, says the differences between Greece and its creditors can be bridged, and he emphasizes the importance of Greece remaining in the 19-nation euro bloc.
He said before a eurozone finance ministers' meeting Saturday that "proposals are on the table. These proposals are favorable to Greece, favorable to the Greek people."
The Greek government has called for a referendum to be held in a week on the creditors' proposals for reforms in exchange for loans. It has urged the people to vote against the deal, leaving open what would happen to the country in such a case.
Moscovici added: "I see that there are differences, but the differences are quite limited, and they are identified."
"The place of Greece is in the eurozone and we are working on that."