MOSCOW (Sputnik) — UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura on Tuesday extended his condolences over the death of Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin.
"It is with deep regret that I received the news of the death of Vitaly Churkin the Russian PR to the UN in New York. Amb. Churkin was a fine diplomat and also a good friend of mine. I had derived high personal respect for him from our years of working together on Iraq, Afghanistan and more recently Syria. I wish to offer my condolences to his family," de Mistura told Sputnik.
Churkin passed away in New York on Monday.
