Factbox - Timeline to negotiations on new Greek bailout

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers in the Eurogroup discussed a Greek application for a new conditional loan package on a conference call on Wednesday, EU officials said, but decided to freeze talks until after Sunday's referendum. Two letters from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to creditors on Tuesday came too late to secure an extension to the previous bailout which expired at midnight (2300 BST), just as Greece defaulted on a 1.6 billion euro (1 billion pound) debt repayment to the IMF. Tsipras has exasperated fellow leaders by urging voters to reject creditors' now redundant previous offer of terms. His request for a new, third bailout package for two years could trigger the following process once talks resume: - Eurogroup could agree Greece needs financial assistance, not a major doubt given that it is effectively bankrupt and has lost access to financial markets. Ministers could in theory have agreed to launch the bailout process on Wednesday but did not. - Once Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem, in his role as chair of the board of governors of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), accepts an application from Greece, he asks the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, along with the European Central Bank (ECB) to assess it. - The assessment can be lengthy but in this case Commission and ECB officials have already spent months working intensively with the new Greek government to seek a deal to complete the previous bailout. Capital controls imposed this week ahead of the default complicate the economic health check but officials see no difficulty in producing a quick review of Greece's needs. - Tsipras asked for an ESM loan only to meet debt service obligations to 2017 which he put at about 30 billion euros. - If the Eurogroup decides to accept Greece's loan request, it will ask the Commission, the ECB and, probably, the IMF, which has been involved in the past two bailouts, to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) detailing conditions Greece must accept. Such conditions have been a bone of contention. - Tsipras has indicated he is now ready to accept the terms he rejected late last week, with some exceptions. Euro zone sources said on Wednesday those exceptions were not acceptable. However, in principle an accord appears within reach. - If Greece and the Eurogroup agree terms, the countries of the euro zone must approve lending which would be guaranteed by their own treasuries. In some cases, notably in Germany, this would mean a parliamentary vote. Summer recesses for many legislatures may be a hurdle. However, EU officials have said the process can take a week but could go more quickly. - If both sides are willing to come to terms, the whole process could be completed within three weeks, EU officials say, just in time for a crucial repayment to the ECB on July 20. If Athens missed that bond redemption, it could put an end to ECB emergency liquidity to keep Greek banks afloat. (Reporting by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Paul Taylor/Ruth Pitchford)