(MENAFN- AFP) European stocks closed slightly off on Monday as investors awaited the outcome of high-stakes debt talks between Greece and its eurozone partners in Brussels.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index dipped 0.24 percent to close at 6,857.05 points in afternoon deals in the British capital.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 closed 0.37 percent off at 10,923.23 points, while the CAC 40 index in Paris edged 0.16 percent lower to 4,751.95 points compared with Friday's close.
The Greek market however crashed 3.83 percent, closing at 859.70 points after eurozone finance ministers began a key meeting over Athens' controversial proposals to overhaul its bailout from international creditors.
The talks promised to be extremely tense and looked set to last well into the night.
"The main focus will be on the Eurogroup's meeting this evening as market participants are watching for any improving steps regarding the Greek debt issues," said Sucden research analyst Myrto Sokou. "We expect high volatility in the coming trading sessions."
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble set an uncompromising tone ahead of the meeting, telling German radio: "I feel sorry for the Greeks at the moment. They've elected a government which is currently acting irresponsibly."
A government source in Athens said after the talks got under way that Greece had rejected the opening EU bailout offer as "absurd".
After last week's failure to make any breakthrough in negotiations, ETX Capital analyst Daniel Sugarman said that "a final agreement would appear to depend on at least one of the two sides making significant concessions."
"Time and money are running out for Greece," said Holger Schmieding of Berenberg financial analysts.
"A subtle change in tone in Athens suggests that the new Greek government has started to notice.
"But whether Prime Minister (Alexis) Tsipras has really grasped how close he has already pushed Greece to the abyss of wholesale financial crisis, recession and 'Grexit', and whether he is ready to perform the inevitable U-turn to avoid that fate remains a very open question," he said.
Greece risks being forced out of the euro -- in what has been dubbed a "Grexit" -- if a deal is not found by the end of the month, when its mammoth 240-billion-euro bailout runs out.
The European single currency weakened to $1.1390 from $1.1393 late in New York on Friday.
- 'Old bugbears are back' -
Meanwhile, investors are increasingly anxious over the shaky new truce in Ukraine, where fighting continues around the key government-held town of Debaltseve, two days after a new ceasefire came into effect.
The European Union, which backed the new peace effort forged last week through painstaking mediation by France and Germany, pleaded that "the shooting needs to stop".
"The old bugbears are back to stalk markets," said analyst Chris Beauchamp at trading firm IG.
"The ceasefire in Ukraine, barely a day old, is already looking shaky, while anxious eurozone markets turn their eyes to the latest meeting between finance ministers."
Asian equities had however advanced Monday after a record close on Wall Street, while Greece's leadership expressed confidence it could hammer out a new debt deal with European creditors.
Markets are hoping a deal can be reached before the end of the month, when Greece's bailout is due to expire. Failure to agree an extension would see it default on its giant debts and could see it crash out of the eurozone.
Japanese shares ended above 18,000 points for the first time in more than seven years, supported by data showing the nation's economy had exited recession.
Tokyo rose 0.51 percent to finish at 18,004.77 -- the first time it has been above the psychologically key level since July 2007.
Hong Kong added 0.18 percent, Shanghai climbed 0.58 percent, Sydney added 0.19 percent and Seoul was marginally higher.
There was no trading on Wall Street on Monday which was closed due to a US national holiday.
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