New Russian Envoy Nebenzya Presents Credentials to UN Secretary-General Guterres

Newly appointed Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya presented on Friday his credentials to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree appointing then-Deputy Foreign Minister Nebenzya as Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations and the UN Security Council.

Russia's top priorities in the United Nations have remained the same but they will focus on developing new strategies to enhance productivity,

"We do not have any new lines of work in the UN. Our priorities remain the same: We support UN mission in human rights, environmental concerns and counter-terrorism efforts," Nebenzya said. "We will try to develop further strategies to improve efficiency."

Former Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin, who had occupied the post since 2006, passed away in February on the eve of his 65th birthday. His deputy temporarily took over as the envoy to the United Nations.

Nebenzya is a career diplomat, who was born in 1962. He graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University) in 1983. The Russian diplomat speaks English and Spanish. From 1996 to 2000, he worked as a senior adviser to the Russian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, in 2006-2012 he was deputy permanent representative of the Russia to the United Nations in Geneva, and from 2013 Nebenzya served as the deputy foreign minister.