Russia’s ambassador to U.N. dies in NYC at 64

NEW YORK — Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, a veteran diplomat known as a potent and personable voice for his country’s interests as he sparred with his Western counterparts, died suddenly after falling ill Monday in his office at the mission.

Vitaly Churkin, 64, was taken to a hospital in New York, where he died, Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Vladimir Safronkov, told The Associated Press. His cause of death wasn’t immediately known.

He had been Russia’s envoy at the United Nations since 2006 and was considered Moscow’s great champion at the U.N. Diplomatic colleagues from around the world mourned Churkin as a powerful and passionate voice for his nation, with both a deep knowledge of diplomacy and a large and colorful personality. He was the longest-serving member of the Security Council, the U.N.’s most powerful body.

Among many other issues, he recently had made Russia’s views heard on the conflict in Syria, sparring with diplomats from the U.S. and other Western countries over whether to impose sanctions or take action to end the conflict. President Vladimir Putin praised Churkin’s professionalism and diplomacy, according to the state news agency TASS.

“The president was grieved to learn about the death of Vitaly Churkin,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the agency.

Russia’s foreign ministry called Churkin an “outstanding” diplomat and expressed condolences to his friends and family. Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a Facebook post Churkin was “an extraordinary person. A bright man. We have lost a dear one.”

Churkin’s death came at the start of a week when the Security Council is expected to discuss Ukraine and Syria.

The U.S. and the European Union imposed sanctions on Russia for its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and its support for insurgents in eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, the United States, Britain and France have been pressing the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on the Syrian government for using chemical weapons, while Russia — Syria’s closest ally — has repeatedly questioned investigators’ conclusions linking chemical attacks to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government, which has denied them.