JERUSALEM — Yevgeni Primakov, the former Russian prime minister, added his voice yesterday to the chorus of skepticism surrounding Tony Blair’s new role as international envoy to the Palestinian Arabs. Mr. Primakov said Mr. Blair’s closeness to President Bush meant he would follow Washington and therefore be incapable of leading diplomatic efforts by the Middle East Quartet — the United Nations, America, the European Union, and Russia. “I do not think that Tony Blair will become the Quartet’s conductor,” Mr. Primakov said. “His role will consist of following the U.S. line.”

Mr. Primakov’s remarks added to the controversy over Mr. Blair’s new job, which has turned out to be a lot less ambitious than first forecast. Instead of a Middle East envoy empowered to negotiate peace terms between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs, the mandate was trimmed to one whereby Mr. Blair would be the Quartet’s representative to help to build the economy and institutions of the Palestinian Arabs.

At the time of the appointment last month, Mr. Blair’s people made clear that he was itching to extend the scope of the mandate to include peace building. But following his first meetings this week with officials from the Quartet, as well as Secretary-General Ban of the United Nations, Mr. Blair now appears to have accepted the mandate in spite of its limitations.

Mr. Blair will make his first visit as envoy to the Palestinian Arabs some time in the next fortnight, the spokesman said, although it is likely to be a brief trip. The expectation is that Mr. Blair will be spending much more time in the region later this year. Rumors are swirling around Jerusalem where, it is predicted, he will be based.