The Netherlands is willing to let Greece go into default if Athens fails to reach a deal with private creditors on a voluntary debt writedown, the Dutch finance minister said Monday.

"As you know, we are not opposed to an individual credit event, in other words (a write-down) that is less than voluntary," Jan Kees de Jager said on arrival for talks with eurozone counterparts in Brussels.

"We have never been opposed to that," he said as Greece and banks struggled to find common ground to erase 100 billion euros ($129 billion) from a 350-billion-euro debt mountain through a voluntary bond swap.

A credit event occurs when a borrower goes into a default that activates the payout of insurance policies known as credit defaults swaps (CDS).

De Jager said that while "we must obviously pay close attention to the effects" of a less-than-100-percent voluntary deal, "what counts is that we have a sustainable debt position."

He said that when you are talking about a 70-percent write-down, "the question of whether it is 'voluntary' or not is a bit semantic."

Sustainability held the key, he said, "so that we can once more loan Greece money without excessive risks."

Negotiations between Greece and private lenders were adjourned on Friday without a deal but both the banks and government expressed optimism on the outcome.

The chief negotiator for the Institute of International Finance (IIF), the group representing lenders, said creditors had made their best offer and that a deal now depends on Greece's bailout providers.

Charles Dallar, IIF managing director, told Greek television on Sunday that it is now "largely in the hands of the official sector to choose the path ..., a voluntary PSI (Private Sector Involvement) deal or a default."