The Greek government has a "last chance" to deliver spending cuts that could secure its future, a senior finance minister has said.
The country's public spending must be slashed before its creditors will release a 31bn euro (£27.3bn) rescue package to keep it afloat.
But while Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean Claude Juncker said a Greek exit from the euro would be a "disaster", he warned: "The ball is in the Greek court.
"In fact, this is the last chance and Greek citizens have to know it."
Mr Juncker chairs high-powered meetings of the eurozone finance ministers, which gives him significant influence.
Greece has already failed to comply with the tough terms of two multi-billion euro bailouts that its European partners and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have financed since 2010.
But Athens is now proposing something different : two years of added leeway to meet its deficit targets without a fresh injection of funds from sovereign creditors.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras outlined the plan to Mr Juncker during a two-hour meeting on Wednesday.
He will pitch the proposal to German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday, and French President Francois Hollande on Saturday.
Over the weekend, German officials, including finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, said Athens was left with limited options.
"Greece cannot be helped - we can't make yet another new bailout programme. There are limits," he said.
The Dutch and the Finns, fearful of throwing good money after bad, also appear concerned.
Since the eurozone crisis erupted, multiple rounds of budget cuts have left the tiny country with undercurrents of anger and growing threats of social upheaval.
It is now in its fifth year of acute recession, and unemployment has surged to over 23% while the private sector is reluctant to invest.
"The only thing that Greece's government, its people and common sense is asking for, is to return to growth," Mr Samaras said.
"Greece is asphyxiating."
