Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis was today accused of being a "time-waster, a gambler, and an amateur" by a participant of the Eurogroup meeting on Greece's reform proposals taking place in the Latvian capital, Riga. The comments, reported by Bloomberg, show just how wide the divide between European finance ministers remains as negotiations over providing then next tranche of bailout funds to the cash-strapped Greek government continue. Underlining these concerns, Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem said at a press conference on Friday that there were "positive signs, but still wide differences to bridge on substance." He added: "We are all aware that time is running out...[and] too much time has been lost." In a blog post released earlier today, Varoufakis made clear that there was still a lot of ground between the two sides — although progress had been made. He notes that "our partners already agree on much" but goes on to rule out further wage cuts and cuts in pensions stating that they are not on the agenda for the Greek government. More controversially, he calls for the institutions-formerly-known-as-the-Troika to "let go of an approach that has failed." He argues that insisting that the reforms agreed under Greece's 2012 bailout programme be carried out would "merely cause further damage to Greece’s already-stressed social fabric" and fail to put the country back on the road to recovery. This latest backbiting incident is likely to do little to sooth nerves among those who fear that the gap between the two sides remains too large to bridge before the government in Athens runs out of money to meet its bills. The fact that almost all the representatives speaking at the press conference stressed that "time is running out" suggests that patience may also be wearing thin.Join the conversation about this story » NOW WATCH: Animated map shows what would happen to China if all the Earth's ice melted
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