Greece missed its $1.7 billion debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund, becoming the first developed country to default. Here's a look at some of the fallout. (Jorge Ribas/The Washington Post) 
 
 Greece missed its $1.7 billion debt repayment to the International Monetary Fund, becoming the first developed country to default. Here's a look at some of the fallout. (Jorge Ribas/The Washington Post) 
 
 European officials on Wednesday slammed the door on any further negotiations with Greece before a national referendum planned for Sunday, daring the Athens government to go ahead with a vote that holds peril for the country no matter which option Greeks choose. 
 
 “There will be no talks in the coming days,” Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem told reporters Wednesday evening. “We will simply await now the outcome of the referendum on Sunday.” 
 
 The hard-line European stance came on a day when Greek authorities had seemed to waver in their determination to proceed with the vote, and it appears to reflect an emerging European view that Athens is in a no-win situation. 
 
 Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced the referendum last weekend to give Greek voters a chance to weigh in on the spending cuts that Europe has demanded as a condition of financial rescue. But the exact stakes in the vote have been unclear since Greece’s old bailout program expired Tuesday, making the country the first developed nation to miss an International Monetary Fund repayment deadline. 
 
 The government has urged a “no” vote, a choice that European officials say would trigger Greece’s exit from the euro zone. A “yes” vote could cause Tsipras’s government to collapse. 
 
 1 of 70 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad × Greeks flood ATMs after banks close as crisis deepens View Photos Shuttered banks and a closed stock market are causing many to panic and purchase more gas and goods. Greece likely will find out this week whether it will be able to hold on to the euro. Caption The Greek Parliament backed down in its confrontation with the country’s creditors. July 13, 2015 People stand in line to use a bank ATM as a person begs for alms in Athens. Thanassis Stavrakis/AP Buy Photo Wait 1 second to continue. 
 
 After insisting for days that Europe’s offer was intolerable, Tsipras sent a letter late Tuesday night to Greece’s main creditors in which he appeared to open a space for significant concessions in the cash-for-cutbacks standoff, suggesting he could agree to the stringent austerity measures he once repudiated. 
 
 His letter proposed some changes to European Union demands but left in place many of the bloc’s most far-reaching terms, including fundamental reforms of the way Greece’s economy is organized. 
 
 [Greece’s financial meltdown explained] 
 
 With Greece now cut off from its financial lifelines, Tsipras’s proposal also reiterated a request for a new $32 billion bailout and more relief from Greece’s crushing debts than E.U. leaders have been prepared to offer. 
 
 “Our amendments are concrete and they fully respect the robustness and credibility of the design of the overall program,” Tsipras wrote in the letter, which was addressed to the heads of the E.U. executive arm, the European Central Bank and the IMF. 
 
 Revived hope of a deal sent European stock markets higher after two days of downturns. Wall Street also rose. 
 
 Yet the prospect of a breakthrough was almost immediately quashed by Greece’s main creditors, including economic powerhouse Germany, even as Washington continued to press for both sides to reach a compromise. 
 
 Greeks woke up to shuttered banks and closed ATMs on Monday, as a breakdown in talks between Athens and its creditors pushed the country to the brink. (Reuters) 
 
 German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said the latest Greek letter “did not provide further clarity” in the impasse and was “no basis” for resuming serious negotiations before the referendum. He went on to blast Tsipras’s government for dragging the country deeper into crisis since coming to power in January with a promise to fight further E.U.-imposed financial pressures. 
 
 “Greece is in a difficult situation, but purely because of the behavior of the Greek government,” Schäuble said in a speech in the German Parliament’s lower house. “Seeking the blame outside Greece might be helpful in Greece, but it has nothing to do with reality.” 
 
 [It could get worse] 
 
 Also in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave no ground. She told German lawmakers that there can be no direct discussions on a new aid program until after the referendum. 
 
 “We will wait,” she said, adding that any new bailout would have to be approved by Germany’s Parliament. 
 
 French President François Hollande sounded more conciliatory, perhaps to satisfy those in the left wing of his Socialist Party who are sympathetic to Tsipras. 
 
 “If we have to wait for a referendum, there is always a risk . . . that we would enter a period of turmoil and enter into the unknown,” he said. “It’s better to be sure than to leap into the void.” 
 
 Other European officials, however, signaled that they were in no mood to talk unless Tsipras completely capitulated. 
 
 With Europe’s verdict clear, Tsipras appeared on Greek television Wednesday afternoon vowing to stick with plans for the referendum and once again assailing the E.U. demands, which include raising taxes and further trimming pensions. 
 
 Greece, he said, will be back at the negotiating table after the referendum, seeking “better terms for the Greek people.” 
 
 The fast-moving gambits and declarations across Europe added to the high-stakes atmosphere as Greece tumbled toward the Sunday vote. Tsipras and his allies in the radical leftist Syriza party cast it as a simple up-or-down choice focused on Europe’s bailout proposals. But E.U. leaders have framed it in starker terms: as a judgment on whether Greece wants to remain in the euro currency community or risk being the first country to crash out of it. Polls suggest the vote could go either way. 
 
 The situation was further clouded Wednesday by questions about the referendum’s framework from Thorbjorn Jagland, head of the Council of Europe, an advisory body that monitors elections and human rights. 
 
 Jagland told the Associated Press that the planned vote did not meet international standards. Its defects included the lack of two weeks’ notice, he said. The Council of Europe has no enforcement powers, but the observations could boost critics of the planned vote, including Greek opposition leaders. 
 
 Meanwhile, Greece’s banking system continued to teeter on the brink of collapse. 
 
 The European Central Bank, which controls a vital stream of emergency cash to Greece’s banks, opted Wednesday to keep the banks in limbo — neither slashing support nor increasing it. The decision means the banks’ fate will be determined only after the referendum. 
 
 Greece’s banks have been closed to preserve their dwindling cash reserves, and Greeks have been limited to withdrawing 60 euros, or about $67, per day from ATMs. The cash shortage has caused pain and panic as pensioners go without money for their doctors’ bills and citizens try to stock up on basic grocery supplies. 
 
 Greek banks are so low on cash that they could run out by Monday, two Greek officials with knowledge of the situation said. 
 
 With the country facing such dire prospects, Pope Francis asked Catholics to pray for the Greek people amid their “keenly felt human and social crisis.” 
 
 Anthony Faiola in Berlin and Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report. 
 
 Europe may not admit it, but its future is on the line in Greece 
 
 MAP: Greece isn’t the first nation to default on a sovereign debt 
 
 The forgotten origins of Greece’s crisis will make you think twice about who’s to blame 
 
 Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption "Nobody has the right to threaten to cut down Greece from its natural geographic body" - Alexis Tsipras 
 
 Greek PM Alexis Tsipras has called on voters to reject "blackmail" when they vote in a bailout referendum on Sunday. 
 
 In a TV address, he insisted Greece's EU membership was not at stake. He later told cheering supporters to vote "No" to "live with dignity in Europe". 
 
 There were scuffles with police as both sides held rallies in Athens. 
 
 A Greek court has rejected a challenge to the legality of the referendum, in which people will vote on the terms of further international loans. 
 
 It comes after tough talks with creditors, and EU leaders have warned that a "No" vote could see Greece leave the eurozone. 
 
 Greece's economy is already being squeezed after its bailout programme ran out on Tuesday. 
 
 Banks have been shut and limits imposed on cash withdrawals. 
 
 The head of Greece's banking association has warned that although the banks have enough funds until Monday, they will be dependent on the European Central Bank thereafter. 
 
 Desperate times 
 
 Image copyright AFP/Getty Images 
 
 It is a scene that speaks of suffering and exhaustion, and one that may well become the lasting image of the Greek debt crisis. 
 
 An elderly man, sitting on the ground outside a bank, was photographed crying on Friday morning. 
 
 The image, taken in Thessaloniki by AFP's Sakis Mitrolidis, was widely shared on social media as soon as it was published. 
 
 The man, whose name was not disclosed, was helped away soon after it was taken. 
 
 His story is not known, but those of plenty of other pensioners are. 
 
 Monthly pensions have gone down to an average of €833 ($924; £594) from an average of €1,350 in 2009, according to INE-GSEE, the institute behind Greece's biggest union. 
 
 Read more: Cost of crisis to pensioners 
 
 Claims by Greek politicians that a "No" vote will strengthen their hand in bailout negotiations have been rebuffed by European leaders. 
 
 Both EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Jeroen Dijsselbloem - head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers - have insisted a "No" vote will weaken the Greeks' position and that even a "Yes" vote will not mean a deal is easy to agree. 
 
 Several European officials have complained in strong terms about Greece's abrupt decision to hold a referendum on the terms of a bailout offer that they say is no longer on the table. 
 
 But in a ruling on Friday, Greece's top administrative court rejected an appeal lodged by two individuals who had argued that it was illegal to hold popular votes on fiscal matters. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Stefanaki Ioanna: "A yes vote will give Greece a chance" 
 
 Debt 'unsustainable' 
 
 Thousands of "Yes" and "No" supporters gathered in separate squares of central Athens on Friday, and police threw stun grenades in brief scuffles with "No" protesters. 
 
 Mr Tsipras urged Greeks, at a "No" rally later on Friday evening, to say a "proud 'No' to the ultimatums". 
 
 In his TV address, Mr Tsipras referred to an IMF report published on Thursday which said Greece would need an extra €50bn euros ($55bn; £36bn) over the next three years to stabilise its finances and repeated suggestions that Greece needed debt relief. 
 
 The recent negotiations were over the release of a final tranche of bailout funds of €7.2bn. 
 
 Greece's mountain of €323bn debt was "not sustainable", Mr Tsipras said. He said he had called for a 30% "haircut" off the debt and a 20-year grace period for the rest. 
 
 Mr Tsipras urged voters to reject the "sirens of scaremongering", but added that: "Whatever we choose... Come Monday we are all together." 
 
 Mr Tsipras faces vocal opposition at home - with opposition leader Antonis Samaras calling on "every Greek man and every Greek woman above and beyond parties" to vote "Yes", along with several deputies from Syriza's own coalition partner, the Independent Greeks. 
 
 Lenders' proposals: Key sticking points 
 
 VAT (sales tax): Alexis Tsipras accepts a new three-tier system, but wants to keep 30% discount on the Greek islands' VAT rates. Lenders want the islands' discounts scrapped 
 
 Pensions: Ekas top-up grant for some 200,000 poorer pensioners will be phased out by 2020 - as demanded by lenders. But Mr Tsipras says no to immediate Ekas cut for the wealthiest 20% of Ekas recipients 
 
 Defence: Mr Tsipras says reduce ceiling for military spending by €200m in 2016 and €400m in 2017. Lenders call for €400m reduction - no mention of €200m 
 
 Source: European Commission document, 26 Jun 15 (pdf) 
 
 Greek debt jargon explained 
 
 Tsipras and his Greek gamble 
 
 A poll published in Ethnos newspaper on Friday showed the two sides evenly split, with the "Yes" vote at 44.8% and the "No" vote at 43.4%. 
 
 But the same poll showed 74% in favour of staying in the euro, with just 15% choosing a return to a national currency. 
 
 The European Commission, the European Union's executive arm - one of the "troika" of creditors along with the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank - wants Athens to raise taxes and slash welfare spending to meet its debt obligations. 
 
 On Tuesday, the previous eurozone bailout expired, depriving Greece of access to billions of euros in funds, and Athens missed a €1.5bn repayment to the IMF. ||||| ATHENS, Greece (AP) — On a night filled with emotion and packed city squares, naysaying Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his "yes" vote rivals made their final pitches at bailout referendum rallies, as polls showed the two sides in a dead heat. 
 
 A woman holds a banner reading, "No to the Troika, I support Greece" during a a pro Greece demonstration at the European Union office in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, July 3, 2015. A new opinion poll shows... (Associated Press) 
 
 A Greek Orthodox priest gives money to a man who begs for alms under a banner reading "No" referring to the upcoming referendum in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki, Friday, July 3, 2015. Greeks... (Associated Press) 
 
 Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras delivers a speech during a rally organized by supporters of the No vote at Syntagma square in Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. A new opinion poll shows a dead heat... (Associated Press) 
 
 Demonstrators gather during a rally organized by supporters of the Yes vote in Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. A new opinion poll shows a dead heat in Greece's referendum campaign with just two days to... (Associated Press) 
 
 Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras waves to the crowd after his speech at a rally organized by supporters of the No vote in Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. A new opinion poll shows a dead heat in Greece's... (Associated Press) 
 
 People attend a rally organized by supporters of the No vote in Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. A new opinion poll shows a dead heat in Greece's referendum campaign with just two days to go before Sunday's... (Associated Press) 
 
 Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras waves to the crowd after his a speech at a rally organized by supporters of the No vote in Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. A new opinion poll shows a dead heat in... (Associated Press) 
 
 A demonstrator holds a Greek flag and another one reading ''Yes'' during a rally organized by supporters of the Yes vote in Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. A new opinion poll shows a dead heat in Greece's... (Associated Press) 
 
 Elderly men chat in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki, Friday, July 3, 2015. Greeks will vote Sunday on whether to accept a proposal that creditors had made of specific reforms in exchange... (Associated Press) 
 
 A member of the Communist-affiliated PAME labor union shouts slogans at the police during an anti-austerity protest calling to "Vote NO" outside of the in central Athens, on Friday, July 3, 2015. Greece... (Associated Press) 
 
 A man on a wheel chair sells items in central Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. Rival campaigns in Greece’s bailout referendum end Friday, with rallies planned in Athens for “Yes” and “No” supporters - at... (Associated Press) 
 
 People line up to withdraw money from a bank machine in central Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. As Greek banks and markets remain closed Friday for a fifth day, rival campaigns scrambled to roll out their... (Associated Press) 
 
 People wait to be allowed into the national bank of Greece to withdraw a maximum of 120 euros ($134) for the week, in central Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. As Greek banks and markets remain closed Friday... (Associated Press) 
 
 People wait to be allowed into a bank to withdraw a maximum of 120 euros ($134) for the week, in central Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. As Greek banks and markets remain closed Friday for a fifth day,... (Associated Press) 
 
 People wait to be allowed into the national bank of Greece to withdraw a maximum of 120 euros ($134) for the week, in central Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. As Greek banks and markets remain closed Friday... (Associated Press) 
 
 Men, one of them using a magnifying glass, look at newspapers displayed at a news stand in central Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. Rival campaigns in Greece’s bailout referendum end Friday, with rallies... (Associated Press) 
 
 Demonstrators use umbrellas to protect from the rain during a rally organized by supporters of the No vote in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki, Friday, July 3, 2015. A new opinion poll shows... (Associated Press) 
 
 A man looks at newspapers displayed at a newsstand in central Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. Rival campaigns in Greece’s bailout referendum end Friday, with rallies planned in Athens for “Yes” and “No”... (Associated Press) 
 
 A man begs as people wait to be allowed into a bank to withdraw a maximum of 120 euro ($134) for the week, in central Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. As Greek banks and markets remain closed Friday for... (Associated Press) 
 
 An Associated Press TV producer edits the video of Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras televised address to the nation in Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. Tsipras has called on voters to reject creditors'... (Associated Press) 
 
 People attend a rally organized by supporters of the No vote in Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. A new opinion poll shows a dead heat in Greece's referendum campaign with just two days to go before Sunday's... (Associated Press) 
 
 A salesman serves fish to a client at a fish market in central Athens, Friday, July 3, 2015. Rival campaigns in Greece’s bailout referendum end Friday, with rallies planned in Athens for “Yes” and “No”... (Associated Press) 
 
 More than 40,000 people gathered at the two rallies, half a mile (800 meters) apart, before Sunday's vote on whether to accept creditors' proposals for more austerity in exchange for rescue loans, or reject the deal as a show of defiance against years of harsh economic austerity. 
 
 "This is not a protest. It is a celebration to overcome fear and blackmail," Tsipras told a crowd of 25,000 in front of parliament, who were chanting oxi, oxi— "no, no." 
 
 Meanwhile, police said about 17,000 people gathered outside the nearby Panathenian stadium for the "yes" rally, waving Greek and European Union flags and chanting "Greece, Europe, Democracy." 
 
 Rallies for both campaigns were also held in 10 other Greek cities Friday. 
 
 Tsipras is gambling the future of his five-month-old left wing government on Sunday's snap poll — insisting a "no" vote will strengthen his hand to negotiate a third bailout with better terms. 
 
 But the high-stakes standoff with lenders this week saw Greece default on debts, close banks to avoid their collapse, and lose access to billions of euros as an existing bailout deal expired. 
 
 At the "no" rally, Athens resident Maria Antiniou held a handmade sign, reading "oxi." 
 
 "We have to strengthen Tsipras. It's not his fault we are bankrupt," she said. 
 
 "He doesn't have the mandate to take tougher measures and now we are giving that to him. It's not true this is a vote on the euro. It's a vote to change course and stay in the euro, and Tsipras is our best hope," she said. 
 
 That is a message the "yes" voters refuse believe. 
 
 Evgenia Bouzala, a Greek born in Germany, said she was considering shutting down her olive oil export business because of the financial turmoil. 
 
 "I don't think we can keep going. Look at what happened in the last three days. Imagine if that lasts another six months," she said. 
 
 "A 'yes' vote would bring a caretaker government and that would probably be better ... We have to start over." 
 
 The drama remained high in the final hours of campaigning. 
 
 The country's top court stayed in session till the late afternoon before rejecting a petition to declare the referendum illegal, while party leaders, personalities, and church elders weighed in with impassioned pleas to vote "no" or "yes" on the airwaves and social media. 
 
 In a rare public declaration, 16 former armed forces leaders wrote an appeal to citizens to show "calm and national unity." 
 
 A series of polls published Friday at the end of a frantic weeklong campaign showed the two sides in a dead heat, with an incremental lead of the "yes" vote well within the margin of error. 
 
 But they showed an overwhelming majority of people — about 75 percent — want Greece to remain in the euro currency. 
 
 Much of the ambiguity arises from the complicated question on the ballot paper: 
 
 "Must the agreement plan submitted by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to the Eurogroup of 25 June, 2015, and comprised of two parts which make up their joint proposal, be accepted? The first document is titled 'reforms for the completion of the current program and beyond' and the second 'Preliminary debt sustainability analysis.'" 
 
 Voters are asked to check one of two boxes: "not approved/no" and — below it — "approved/yes." 
 
 "People don't even understand the question," Athens Mayor George Kaminis told supporters at the "yes" rally. 
 
 "We have been dragged into a pointless referendum that is dividing the people and hurting the country." 
 
 Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis told Ireland's RTE radio Friday that an agreement with creditors "is more or less done" and that the only issue left is debt relief. 
 
 But the head of the eurozone finance ministers' group, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, rejected the idea, pointing out that negotiations had been broken off. 
 
 "There are no new proposals from our side and, whatever happens, the future for Greece will be extremely tough," Dijsselbloem said. 
 
 "To get Greece back on track and the economy out of the slump, tough decisions will have to be taken and every politician that says that won't be the case following a 'no' vote is deceiving his population." 
 
 Germany's finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble told his country's Bild daily that any negotiations after the Greek vote "will take a while." 
 
 No campaigning is allowed the day before an election in Greece, so Friday's rallies would be the closing salvoes in the battle to persuade voters ahead of Sunday. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Online: Official referendum website http://www.referendum2015gov.gr/en/ 
 
 ___ 
 
 Elena Becatoros and Costas Kantouris in Athens, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Michael Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, contributed to this report
– Greece's top court has declared that Sunday's referendum on a bailout is constitutional, meaning the vote with huge implications for all of Europe will proceed. The latest polls show a dead heat, reports AP, as leaders on both sides try to rally support—especially Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, whose political life may be at stake. “I ask you to say no to ultimatums, blackmail, and fear-mongering,” he said in a TV address. “No to divisions, no to those who want to spread panic.” He sought to downplay the notion that a "no" vote could lead to Greece leaving the euro zone. Instead, he said, the referendum is about giving him more leverage to get a better deal from creditors. It's the only way Greece can "live with dignity in Europe," he said, per the BBC. The Washington Post has a primer on the financial reasons behind the vote, but a story in the New York Times casts it in more personal terms. It's largely become a referendum on Tsipras himself, and the story suggests that's why European leaders itching to get rid of him limited emergency funds to Greek banks this week. The move set off a panic among people scrambling for cash, and his popularity tumbled. “I don’t see how anybody can believe that the timing of this was coincidence,” says a US economist. “When you restrict the flow of cash enough to close the banks during the week of a referendum, this is a very deliberate move to scare people.” Tsipras initially said he would step down if the "yes" vote prevails, but he has since backed down from that position.