British Prime Minister Tony Blair is going to Italy to begin a diplomatic offensive ahead of the G8 summit in July, BBC reported. Blair will be seeking the backing of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on plans to double aid to Africa and counter global warming. This is the final phase of talks before the G8 industrialized nations meet at Gleneagles, Downing Street says. Blair is also to visit Washington, Moscow, Paris and Germany, and will hold video talks with Canada and Japan. The UK Prime Minister will be hoping to make progress on key issues before hosting the summit in his capacity as G8 president. His official spokesman said there was "real negotiation going on" but the outcome would not be known until the talks finished. But, he added: "We are seeing real signs of progress. We are not in any way damping our ambitions for Gleneagles. "Unless you are ambitious you do not make progress."
