PARIS — The International Monetary Fund has called its negotiating team in the Greek bailout talks back to Washington, a stark sign that Athens and its creditors are not close to reaching a deal.
While the I.M.F. said Thursday that it remained engaged in the talks, the frustration was palpable. Greece's main creditors expressed discontent this week at the state of the discussions and at statements by Greek officials at home, including Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
After recalling its team from Brussels, the I.M.F. said that "major differences remain" in the negotiations, adding that "we are well away from an agreement."
"The I.M.F. never leaves the table," a spokesman, Gerry Rice, said at a press briefing in Washington. "But the ball is very much in Greece's court right now."
The uncertainty over a deal ratchets up the pressure on Greece, which is quickly running out of money.
Unless a deal is reached soon, Greece may not be able to make debt payments to its creditors or meet other financial obligations.
Greece owes 1.6 billion euros ($ 1.8 billion) to the I.M.F. by the end of the month. But its creditors — the I.M.F., the European Central Bank and other eurozone countries — have refused to release €7.2 billion from Greece's international bailout program until they come to terms over economic reforms and spending cuts.
While the negotiations in Brussels have been at an impasse for months, the pace of the talks had increased in recent weeks. Greece and its creditors have worked on dueling proposals, and appeared to be making progress in certain areas.
But Greece continues to push back against creditors' demands, particularly around politically sensitive areas like pension cuts. Mr. Tsipras called the creditors' proposal "absurd."
Talks have continued.
Mr. Tsipras met with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President François Hollande of France on Wednesday night in Brussels. Afterward, a Greek government official said that the talks had been constructive and that the three had "agreed to intensify process of bridging differences."
Mr. Tsipras and the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, met on Thursday. After the talks, Mr. Tsipras similarly spoke about the efforts to "bridge the differences that remain, especially in fiscal and funding issues."
"We are cooperating to reach an agreement that will ensure Greece can recover with social cohesion and sustainable debt," Mr. Tsipras said in a statement.
The I.M.F. and others, though, put a less optimistic view on the progress. The European Union president, Donald Tusk, bluntly took aim at Greece.
"We need decisions, not negotiations now," Mr. Tusk told reporters in Brussels on Thursday. "There is no more space for gambling; there is no more time for gambling. The day is coming, I am afraid, that someone says the game is over."
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