The move by Athens is part pragmatism. By deferring the payments, Greece can continue to negotiate with its creditors and try to meet its financial needs at home even as it runs dangerously low on cash.

But it also allows Greece some degree of leverage, since the specter of default still hangs over the bailout talks. The creditors — the eurozone countries, the I.M.F. and the European Central Bank — are wary of the potential consequences.

“What they’re saying to the creditors is, You’re going to have to blink, we’re not prepared to sign up to more of the same austerity and a continuation of what we’ve been going through for the last year,” said Simon Tilford, deputy director of the Center for European Reform in London.

Greece’s prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, spoke Thursday night via telephone with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President François Hollande of France, according to a Greek government official. The official said the conversation took place in a “good and constructive” climate. But Mr. Tsipras also told them the creditors’ proposal could not be the basis for a deal, since it did not take into account the common ground reached in technical-level talks in Brussels over the last few months, the official said.

Mr. Tsipras is set to brief the Greek Parliament on the state of the negotiations on Friday, ahead of debate involving opposition party leaders that is expected to be heated.

There had been signs this week that Greece and its creditors were edging closer to an agreement.

Greece and its creditors have worked on dueling proposals all week after a meeting in Berlin on Monday that brought together Ms. Merkel, Mr. Hollande, Ms. Lagarde and the president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi. Also present at the meeting on Monday was Jean-Claude Juncker, who as head of the European Commission — the executive arm of the European Union — is playing the role of broker for the negotiations between Greece and its creditors.