This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations for the past decade and leading international exponent of Vladimir Putin’s increasingly self-confident foreign policy, has died suddenly aged 64, the foreign ministry in Moscow has said.



In a statement on Monday night, the ministry said Churkin died in New York, where the UN headquarters are located, a day before his 65th birthday. His death at NewYork-Presbyterian hospital followed what was described as a cardiac condition in his office at 9am local time, it said.

“The outstanding Russian diplomat died while he was in his current working role. We offer our condolences to the relatives of Vitaly Ivanovich Churkin,” the statement added.



Vladimir Putin was deeply upset by the news, Russian news agencies quoted the Kremlin saying, adding that the Russian president had greatly valued Churkin’s professionalism and diplomatic talent.

Generally regarded as a talented Putin loyalist, Churkin was a pugnacious defender of Russian policy, notably its intensive bombing of the Syrian city of Aleppo last year against rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad. Representing a UN security council permanent member, Churkin repeatedly wielded vetoes to prevent resolutions criticising Assad’s regime.

The stance led to him being lambasted last year by Samantha Power, Barack Obama’s envoy to the UN, and by UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien, who referred in October to the bombing of eastern Aleppo as “our generation’s shame”.

Denouncing O’Brien’s vivid account as “unfair and dishonest”, Churkin, in one of the most pointed attacks against a top UN official by a permanent council member in recent times, told him to leave his comments “for the novel you’re going to write some day”.

His clash with Power was even more noteworthy. In one of the standout confrontations of recent diplomatic history, Power unleashed a firestorm of invective on Russia, Iran and Syria in December, saying countries that were “denying or obfuscating the facts, as you will do today – saying up is down, black is white – will not absolve you”.

UN chief calls security council's failure on Aleppo 'our generation's shame' Read more

She added: “Are you truly incapable of shame? Is there literally nothing that can shame you?”



Faced by Power’s verbal assault, Churkin hit back, saying Power was acting like she was Mother Theresa, a status, he argued, the US could hardly claim given its record in the Middle East.

Despite their past tension, Power tweeted on Monday:

Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) Devastated by passing of Russian UN Amb Vitaly Churkin.Diplomatic maestro &deeply caring man who did all he cld to bridge US-RUS differences

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary general’s office, said: “He has been such a regular presence here that I am actually quite stunned. Our thoughts go to his family, to his friends and to his government.”

The Russian ambassador to the the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, said he was “shocked and saddened to learn that Ambassador Vitaly Churkin passed away”, adding that Churkin was “a top diplomat and a good friend”.

His death came amid growing political controversy over the extent to which Putin’s regime cultivated contacts with Donald Trump’s campaign team last year.

Churkin was also facing a tough diplomatic year including continued disagreements over Russian intervention in Ukraine and chemical weapon use by Assad in Syria.

He had recently been pressing the UN to take a closer interest in the Yemen war, describing it as a forgotten conflict that was more complex than Syria, and had claimed there was an encouraging trend at the UN to put pressure on Kiev to honour the Minsk agreements.

Before being appointed ambassador to the UN, Churkin served as ambassador to Belgium and to Canada, and liaison ambassador to Nato. He also was the “ambassador at large” in the foreign ministry in the 2000s.