Rishi Sunak has ruled out changing the law to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece permanently.
The sculptures, taken from the Parthenon temple in Athens in the 19th Century by British diplomat Lord Elgin, have been the subject of a bitter ownership dispute with Greece for decades.
British Museum chairman George Osborne has reportedly been working to hammer out a deal with the Greek Authorities to allow the cultural treasures to be viewed in both Britain and Greece.
