Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with British former Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday to discuss the ways to push forward the peace process between the Palestinians and Israelis during the coming period, Al Bawaba News reported. Blair stressed his keenness to visit Cairo before heading to Israel to discuss the recent developments with the Egyptian officials and to listen to the Egyptian assessment of the current situation in the Palestinian territories. The Egyptian official briefed the former head of the International Quartet on the results of his recent contacts with a number of European officials. He stressed the need for activating the peace process as the main issue in the Middle East. Mr. Shoukry expressed Egypt's keenness to use its influence to restore the rights of the Palestinian people and to establish their independent state as soon as possible.