Europe's creditor countries struggled to bridge divisions over arescue of Greece, seeking more control over how future aid is spentas the clock ticked toward a possible default next month. Stocksand the euro fell.

In a replay of the brinkmanship that marked the early stages ofthe Greek crisis two years ago, euro-area finance ministersextracted concessions from political leaders in Athens intended topave the way for the endorsement of a 130 billion-euro ($171billion) aid package next week.

While “further considerations are necessary regarding thespecific mechanisms to strengthen the surveillance of programimplementation,” Europe is set to make “all the necessarydecisions” on Feb. 20, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-ClaudeJuncker said in an e-mailed statement after chairing a conferencecall of finance chiefs late yesterday.