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Russia Rejects Blair at Supreme Moment
Russia has refused to back up Tony Blair as a new envoy of the Quartet in the Middle East, The Independent reported. Blair is set to step down as Britain’s prime minister Wednesday after 10 years in office.
The Quartet of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia that met in Jerusalem approved Tony Blair as a new envoy to oversee peace process in the Middle East, newswires reported at around 9:00 p.m., MSK, Tuesday, referring to a top-ranked official of the U.S. Department of States.
But that reports proved premature, according to The Independent. Even though Russia bolstered Blair at first, it abandoned the support at the very last moment. The Russians said they need extra consultation with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is in Israel now.
Tony Blair is set to step down as Britain’s prime minister Wednesday after 10 years in office. After appearing at PM’s Questions in the House of Commons, Blair will go to Buckingham Palace to render the formal registration to HM Queen Elizabeth II.
As the Quartet’s envoy in the Middle East, Blair was expected to build up international support for the Palestinians, focus on economic issues and deal with big numbers of other problems.
www.kommersant.com
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