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The Diplomatic Life of Vitaly Churkin

Feb 20, 2017 - 08:00 pm

French General Bertrand De Lapresle (R) shakes hands with Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin prior to the second day of a two-day NATO militairy chiefs meeting in The Hague, Dec. 20, 1994. Reuters

Ambassadors of NATO partnership nations wait for the start of a conference on Sept. 28, 1995, during which NATO Secretary General Willy Claes presented NATO's expanded plan for partnership for peace to all partnership nations' ambassadors. Claes said NATO would remain a purely defensive military alliance and threaten no one when it follows through with plans to expand into former communist east Europe. Second right in the picture is Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin. Reuters

United States Secretary of Defense William Cohen (L) and Russia's ambassador to NATO Vitaly Churkin (R) help Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev (C) to explain how his headphone set works in Maastricht, Oct. 1, 1997. NATO defense ministers met in Maastricht to discuss the situation in Bosnia, the alliance's enlargment and changes to its command structure. Reuters

Canadian Minister of the Environment David Anderson (R) walks past Russian Ambassador to Canada Vitaly Churkin (L) after leaving a funeral for Catherine MacLean, a woman who was run down and killed by a Russian diplomat in Ottawa, Jan. 31, 2001. Andrey Knyazev was charged with causing death and injuries while driving impaired on Jan. 27 and declared diplomatic immunity. Knyazev was recalled to Moscow by the Russian government after it rejected Canada's request to waive immunity. Reuters

Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin speaks to members of the media after a U.N. Security Council meeting in New York on Nov. 7, 2006. Keith Bedfor / Reuters

New U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon (R) greets Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Vitaly Churkin at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Jan. 2, 2007. Chip East / Reuters

Maria Sharapova (2nd R), the world's top-ranked female tennis player, poses for a photo with United Nations ambassadors (L-R) Andrei Dapkiunas of Belarus, Vitaly Churkin of Russia and Deputy Ambassador Viktor Kryzhanivskyi of Ukraine at the United Nations in New York, Feb. 14, 2007. Sharapova became a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Development Fund and donated $100,000 to help victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Don Emmert / Reuters

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, visits the village of Mala Krusa, 70 kilometers southwest of Pristina on April 28, 2007. 116 boys and men were killed in Mala Krusa in March 1999 by Serbian forces. A U.N. Security Council mission is visiting the breakaway province and after the visit, the U.N. Security Council ambassadors could decide the fate of the breakaway province. Hazir Reka / Reuters

Britain's Ambassador to the U.N. John Sawers (R) listens to remarks by U.S. President George W. Bush (L) as he sits in on a National Security meeting of ambassadors to the United Nations Security Council to discuss U.S. priorities before the United Nations, at the White House in Washington, June 25, 2008. Also pictured are U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad (3rd L), Russia's Ambassador Vitaly Churkin (4th L) and Italy's Ambassador Marcello Spatafora (5th L). Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad (L) greets Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin prior to a U.N. Security Council meet to discuss Kosovo's declaration of independence at United Nations headquarters in New York, Feb. 18, 2008. Keith Bedford / Reuters

Samantha Power (R), the American ambassador to the United Nations talks to Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, before a vote regarding the Ukrainian crisis was taken at the U.N. Security Council in New York, March 15, 2014. Russia vetoed a U.N. Security Council draft resolution that declared a planned referendum on the status of Ukraine's Crimea region "can have no validity" and urged nations and international organizations not to recognize it. Andrew Kelly / Reuters

Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, votes against a draft resolution that declares a planned referendum on the status of Ukraine's Crimea region "can have no validity" at the U.N. Security Council in New York March 15, 2014. Andrew Kelly / Reuters

Vitaly Churkin, Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations since 2006, died suddenly in New York City on Monday, a day shy of his 65th birthday.

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