Greek prime minister George Papandreou has confirmed he will not head a new coalition government, which could be formed with the opposition tonight, a statement from his office said.
"It is clear that this government will pass the baton but it will not pass it to a void - it will pass it to a new government, if we agree on it, and I hope this will happen soon.
“And when I say soon, I mean today, not tomorrow," he said in a statement after an emergency cabinet session
"I'm not interested in being prime minister in the new government."
Mr Papandreou also told his cabinet elections should not be held before next February, after a euro zone bailout is approved by parliament.
Greek ruling party and opposition leaders are reportedly close to a deal resolving the political impasse that threatens to push the country towards bankruptcy.
The EU increased the pressure on Greek politicians today to agree a crisis coalition and demanded progress in backing an international bailout deal in the next 24 hours.
Mr Papandreou has asked the Greek president to host a three-way meeting with himself and the leader of the opposition tonight after a cabinet meeting to explore the possibility of an agreement.
President Karolos Papoulias said he would invite the leaders provided they agreed on a "procedure" beforehand, State TV said.
With euro zone finance ministers due to meet tomorrow, senior socialist lawmaker Telemachos Hitiris said: "Everything must be done within the day, otherwise tomorrow it will be hell."
Any new coalition will have three immediate tasks: pushing the euro zone bailout through parliament, completing a bond swap which will halve the value of private creditors' Greek state debt holdings, and passing the 2012 budget.
But it is likely to govern for only a few months, too short a time to finish carrying out reforms demanded by the EU and IMF to make the Greek economy more efficient and competitive.
Earlier, the conservative opposition offered to cooperate in forming a national unity government provided Mr Papandreou stood aside after two years at the helm.
European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn demanded a Greek unity government to restore confidence, which has been shaken by doubts that Athens would commit itself to the €130 billion bailout package.
Mr Rehn wanted progress by the time euro zone finance ministers - including Greek Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos - meet tomorrow night.
"We have called for a national unity government and remain persuaded that it is the convincing way of restoring confidence and meeting the commitments," he said.
"We need a convincing report on this by finance minister Venizelos tomorrow in the Eurogroup."
Greece breached confidence with its euro zone partners last week and put itself on a path towards leaving the common currency, Mr Rehn said in a telephone interview.
Mr Papandreou provoked uproar last week by announcing a referendum on the bailout, which demands yet more austerity to be imposed on the long-suffering Greek population, plunging his country into political as well as economic crisis.
Under heavy pressure from home and abroad, Mr Papandreou ditched the referendum and narrowly survived a confidence vote, but only after promising to seek a new broad-based coalition.
Mr Rehn said Greece now appeared to be pulling back from the brink.
Earlier today, both sides had seemed far apart and any coalition deal between Mr Papandreou's Pasok socialists and the opposition New Democracy a distant prospect.
But the EU pressure appeared to have had an impact. In the hunt for a national consensus, president Papoulias met the conservative opposition leader today.
"This uncertainty that is torturing the Greek people must end. We must find a solution," Mr Papoulias said before starting closed-door talks with New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras.
Mr Samaras said he was ready for compromise but only with a new prime minister. "I am determined to help. Provided that Papandreou resigns, everything will take its course," he said after the talks.
The bailout deal aims to save Greece from bankruptcy and to prevent its problems tipping much bigger euro zone economies such as Italy and Spain into full-blown crisis.
Mr Venizelos has already received one lecture when German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Nicolas Sarkozy summoned him with Papandreou before a G20 meeting last week.
The leaders made clear that Greece would receive no more in European aid until it had signed up to the latest bailout, the second package since Athens had to go cap in hand to the European Union and IMF in May last year.
Greeks have staged strikes and protests, some of them violent, against pay and pensions cuts, combined with higher taxes, demanded by the international lenders.
Reuters