11/01/2010 (Agence Europe) - The high representative of the EU foreign policy, Catherine Ashton, will meet the envoy of the Quartet for the Middle East, Tony Blair, and the United States special envoy, Senator George Mitchell, this Tuesday 12 January. She has announced her intention of visiting the region "as soon as possible". On Wednesday 13 January, the special envoys of the Quartet will meet in Brussels as part of the efforts of the United States to prepare a new peace initiative. This will be the first meeting of the Quartet since the UN General Assembly in New York in September. For several days, the Israeli press has been reporting that the American peace plan includes a two-year deadline for the negotiations and to reach a two-state solution. Washington favours a swift resumption of negotiations, without any prior conditions, but the Palestinians wish to make a total moratorium on Israeli colonisation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem a precondition for the resumption of peace talks. (H.B./transl.fl)