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BRUSSELS, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- European Union(EU) foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Monday mourned the passing of Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin.
"The Russian Federation has lost one of its most eminent diplomats," Mogherini said in a message of condolences to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Hailing Churkin for his "leading role on the UN Security Council for more than 10 years," Mogherini said the late ambassador was also an important interlocutor for the EU, including on issues where the EU and Russia did not always see eye-to-eye with each other.
Churkin, who has been the Russian permanent representative to the UN since 2006, died of an apparent heart attack in New York on Monday morning at the age of 64, just a day before his 65th birthday, according to U.S. media reports.
The Russian Foreign Ministry announced the death of Churkin in a brief statement, without disclosing the cause of his death.
Churkin was the Russian ambassador to Canada from 1998 to 2003, and to Belgium from 1994 to 1998.
