Papandreou and Samaras end Greek unity government talks
The crisis talks lasted around one-and-a-half hours The Greek president has hosted crunch talks between the beleaguered prime minister and main opposition leader.
PM George Papandreou has been trying to build a national unity government to lead Greece through its debt crisis.
Antonis Samaras, of the New Democracy party, is refusing to negotiate unless Mr Papandreou resigns first.
The talks ended with no immediate word on the outcome. Reports say Mr Papandreou may step aside if agreement can be reached on a new leader.
There has been speculation that a new governing coalition could be led by Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos.
News of the talks involving President Karolos Papoulias emerged after an emergency cabinet meeting led by Mr Papandreou.
Both Mr Papandreou and Mr Samaras have held separate talks with the president during the weekend.
Mr Papandreou has continued to insist that a general election should not be held for several months, while Mr Samaras has demanded snap elections.
Referendum planMr Papandreou narrowly won a confidence vote on Friday night, but has been under continuing pressure to resign amid chaos over the debt crisis.
A bailout deal agreed by the European Union last month must be ratified by Greece before more funds will be released to stave off bankruptcy.
The deal gives the government 130bn euros (£111bn; $178bn) and imposes a 50% write-off on private holders of Greek debts, in return for deeply unpopular austerity measures.
But Mr Papandreou faced the wrath of fellow EU leaders when he announced that he would put the deal to the people of Greece in a referendum.
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