(JTA) – Tony Blair is preparing to step back as envoy for the Middle East Quartet but wants to remain part of the peace process. Blair has realized that his high-profile role is no longer appropriate, the London-based Financial Times reported Sunday, March 15. On Saturday, March 14, the former British prime minister reportedly met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in the Red Sea resort city Sharm el-Sheik to discuss a job change, according to the newspaper. Blair also spoke with U.N. foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

Blair has weak relations with senior Palestinian Authority figures and major business interests, the Financial Times reported, and that has caused distress in some circles of Washington and Brussels. He has served as envoy to the Quartet – the diplomatic grouping of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations that guides the Middle East process – for since he was appointed in 2007 at the request of President George W. Bush.