The French President Francois Hollande said there was "little time" to prevent Greece from leaving the eurozone.

Mr Hollande said on Monday the ball was firmly in Greece's court.

"It's not France's position to impose on Greece further cuts to smaller pensions, but rather to ask that they propose alternatives," he said on a visit to Algiers.

"We have to get to work... Everything must be done in order that Greece remains in the eurozone."

Mr Hollande's comments come as stock markets in Europe and the United States fell after talks with EU officials in Brussels failed to reach an agreement on Sunday.

The prospects of a Greek default and a difficult Greek exit from the eurozone in just over two weeks' time has worried investors.

The FTSE 100 in London fell 1.1% to 6,710 points, while the Dax in Frankfurt lost 1.9% and the Cac 40 in Paris shed 1.75%.

Athens' benchmark ATG index, which fell 5.9% on Friday, fell a further 4.7% on Monday.

In the US the Dow Jones closed down 0.6%, or 107 points, to 17,791.17.

Greek bank stocks were hit hardest, with National Bank of Greece closed down 5.7% and Bank of Piraeus was 12.2% lower.

A European Commission spokesman said while progress was made at Sunday's talks, "significant gaps" remained.

Europe wants Greece to make spending cuts worth €2bn (£1.44bn) to secure a deal that will unlock bailout funds.

Greece must repay more than €1.5bn of loans to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the end of June and promise further economic reforms to receive about €7bn of bailout funds.

The funds have been delayed by three months amid growing fears the government will soon run out of money.

Sticking points between Greece and the IMF and EU remain reforms to VAT, pensions and a primary budget surplus target for this year and next year.

However, an opinion poll for Greece's Mega TV found that more than two thirds of respondents believe the Greek government will have to back down, with just 19.4% thinking the lenders will agree to further concessions.

Talks were reported to have broken up after just 45 minutes on Sunday.

Greek deputy prime minister Yannis Dragasakis said that Athens was still ready to negotiate with its lenders.

He said Greek government proposals submitted on Sunday had fully covered the fiscal deficit as demanded.

But on Monday Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras warned Athens would stand its ground until its creditors become "realistic".

"We will wait patiently until the institutions become more realistic," Mr Tsipras wrote in Greek newspaper Ephimarida ton Syndakton, adding that "political opportunism" was driving the creditors to keep pressing Athens to make cuts to pensions.

He called on the IMF and EU to "meditate" on the idea that: "We are not only the heirs of a long history of struggle. We are also carrying on our shoulders the dignity of a people, and the hope of the peoples of Europe."

Meanwhile on Monday, the president of Germany's central bank Jens Weidmann, warned Greece "time was running out" adding that it was now clearly up to the government in Athens to act.

IMF chief economist Olivier Blanchard said in a blog post that an agreement will require "difficult decisions", with "tough choices and tough commitments to be made on both sides".

Eurozone finance ministers will discuss Greece when they meet on Thursday. The gathering is regarded as Greece's last chance to strike a deal.

The Commission spokesman said: "President [Jean-Claude] Juncker remains convinced that with stronger reform efforts on the Greek side and political will on all sides, a solution can still be found before the end of the month."