Vitaly Churkin
Russian President Vladimir Putin was saddened to learn of the death of the permanent representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin. On Monday, February 20, reported the official representative of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, reports TASS.
According to him, Putin highly appreciated the professionalism and diplomatic skill of the Russian Ambassador. “The President expressed his condolences to the families and to the staff of the MFA of Russia in connection with the death of Vitaly Churkin,” — said Peskov.
Earlier, on 20 February the foreign Ministry of Russia announced the death of the Ambassador to the UN at the age of 64 years. The statement noted that the diplomat died in working post.
According to the newspaper The New York Times, the cause of death was a heart attack. It is clarified that at about 09:30 local time (17:30 GMT) fell ill due to “heart problems”.
Vitaly Churkin has held the post of permanent representative of Russia to the UN since 2006.