My Way News - World diplomats urge resumption of Mideast talks
My Way News reports: "The so-called Quartet group of Mideast negotiators met in the Russian capital to set the stage for peace talks in which the United States would be a go-between [...] The Quartet group of peacemakers - the U.S., Russia, the United Nations and the European Union - is meant to represent an international consensus on the importance of pressing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and a commitment to establishing a Palestinian state as part of that process.

My Way News - Push on for Mideast talks despite Jerusalem flap
My Way News reports: "The status of Jerusalem is one of the toughest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinians claim its eastern, historically Arab part as the capital of a future state while Netanyahu objects to partitioning the city, retreating from positions of previous Israeli governments. The international community does not recognize Israel's annexation of east Jerusalem after the 1967 Mideast war and views the Jewish neighborhoods there as settlements like those Israel has built in the West Bank."

CSMonitor.com - Quartet host Russia: A new broker for Israel peace?
The Christian Science Monitor reports: "Amid a US-Israel flap, some see an opportunity for Middle East Quartet host Russia to become a bigger player in Israel peace talks. Moscow has strong ties with both Israelis and Palestinians."

Comment: So, reading between the lines, if the U.S. fails to secure an agreement, other countries are waiting in the wings. If the job of Mideast peace broker is next taken up by Russia, a precedent will be established to rotate the job among other members of the Quartet, suggesting a future role for the U.N. or the E.U. to take the lead. We will have to wait and see how this develops.