Tsereteli was given the position of Minister of Post and Telegraph, an office created just so he could be in the cabinet. Reluctant to join the government, Tsereteli only did so in hopes of avoiding the dissolution of the Provisional Government and the outbreak of civil war. He did little in his role as minister, which he held until August 1917, and kept his focus on the Soviet, leaving the actual administration to others. In his memoirs, Tsereteli never mentioned his time as minister, and the only notable action he took in the position was an attempt to increase the pay of post office employees. Even so, Tsereteli's position in the cabinet was aimed at allowing him to serve as a liaison between the Provisional Government and Soviet. He also realized that, as a member of the cabinet, he could "exercise real influence upon the government, since the government and the middle classes which back it are greatly impressed by the power of the Soviet". Despite his relatively unimportant ministerial post, Tsereteli was regarded as a major figure by his peers: Viktor Chernov called him the "Minister of General Affairs", while Nikolai Sukhanov referred to him as the "Commissar of the Government in the Soviet". Highly valued by the Prime Minister, Georgy Lvov, Tsereteli was part of the "inner cabinet" that held the real power in the Provisional Government. He would later express support for the cabinet, as long as it benefited the Revolution.