Blair's wife meets with Russian activists

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, July 18 (UPI) -- Cherie Blair, who accompanied her husband to the G8 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, used the trip to meet with human rights activists.

A spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the government was aware of her activities, The Telegraph reported.

"We do not hide the fact that we have concerns but we believe it is right and proper to engage with Russia in a broad range of topics," the spokesman said.

Relations between the prime minister and President Vladimir Putin were already frosty. During the summit, Putin suggested that Britain, by giving asylum to a Chechen dissident, was protecting a terrorist and joked about Blair's problems with the cash for peerages scandal.

Cherie Blair's meeting with activists was organized by Citizen's Watch, a St. Petersburg group, and Human Rights Watch. In addition to the mostly private meeting, she offered activists help from the legal chambers where she works in London.