Next days 'crucial' for future of Greece, eurozone: PM

(ATHENS) - The next few days will be "particularly crucial" for the future of Greece and the eurozone, Prime Minister George Papandreou said on Thursday.

He told a cabinet meeting, referring to the debt crisis: "We are going to face up to the challenges and to the negotiations while keeping cool but also being alert."

The Prime Minister criticised ratings agencies for continuing to downgrade Greece's debt bonds despite budget measures taken.

"We shouldn't let anyone play with words that lend to confusion," he said reiterating Greece will not accept any form of default status arising from the terms of a second debt rescue, which it urgently needs.

Papandreou said eurozone leaders had lost time and are "struggling to take decisions", but that progress had been made in last few days with increased discussions on global and positive solutions.

"Greece's problem is not only a Greek or regional problem, but a greater one, structural to the future of European countries," Papandreou said