WASHINGTON: The White House has urged Greece and EU leaders to find a compromise to keep the cash-strapped country in the euro zone, after Greeks voted resoundingly to reject an austerity-based bailout.

“The referendum is over, but our view here at the White House remains the same,” said spokesman Josh Earnest.

EU and Greek officials need “to agree to a package of reforms and financing that would allow Greece to be on a path toward debt sustainability but also economic growth,” Earnest told reporters in a briefing.

They should do so “in a way that would allow Greece to remain part of the eurozone,” he said.

“This is a European challenge to solve,” he added.

The US reaction came as Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, says the fund stands “ready to assist Greece if requested to do so.”

Her statement Monday was the IMF’s first reaction to Greek voters’ decisive rejection of further austerity measures in return for bailout loans.

“We are monitoring the situation closely,” she said.

Greece is in arrears to the IMF, having failed to pay a 1.5 billion-euro ($1.7 billion) loan due last Tuesday. The IMF said it couldn’t get involved in a further bailout of Greece if the country remained in arrears.

The IMF last week also said that Greece would need debt relief as well as new financing worth more than 60 billion euros through 2018 to avoid financial collapse.

On the streets of Athens, Greeks are proud of their toughness and defiance after Sunday’s landslide “no” vote against creditors’ demands — but they acknowledge there’s still plenty to worry about.

George Papadokostakis, a 34-year-old coffee shop owner, says he’s very happy with the referendum result. He says “something happened last night with the Greek people. ... we were in a dead-end situation (but) with the ‘no’ vote we believe there may be something better.”

Shoe store worker Nicky Zachary thinks Greeks are tough and united in rejecting austerity.

She says “we can live with very little and we can live through difficult situations. And I think after the referendum, the Greek people are united.”

“I don’t know what will happen next. I would like to have an answer. But at least we are fighting,” she added.uge debt burden, made no comment.ts on the table.”