Vitaly Churkin was buried on Friday at the Troekurov Cemetery in Moscow. The outstanding Russian diplomat died in New York, where he worked as a permanent representative of our country to the UN and in the Security Council of this large international organization. The unexpectedness and scale of the loss shocked everyone, both opponents and allies of Russia.
Expressing condolences to the widow and children, Russian President Vladimir Putin described Vitaly Churkin as "one of the most prominent diplomats". "A professional of the highest level, a man of profound intellect and extraordinary energy, rare charm and sense of humor. He enjoyed the sincere respect of his colleagues and was immensely influential among foreign partners".
The highest appraisal of Churkin was given by Sergei Lavrov, who called him "the people's diplomat". "Besides the fact that Vitaly was a world-class professional, he also was the people's diplomat".
And this is true. His speeches at the UN Security Council were so emotional and so clear to everyone. Their rightness was so obvious that the most ordinary people, who were far away from the diplomatic battles, simply quoted our Churkin in daily life. To this extent, the sympathy and solidarity of the Serbian basketball fans is indicative. Of young people, who are seemingly far away from the diplomatic battles at the UN Security Council. On Thursday, during the Euroleague match between the Serbian "Red Star" and the Turkish "Galatasaray", they put a huge banner saying, "A friend of the truth and the Serbian people, rest in peace. Vitaly Churkin, 1952-2017". By the way, under this banner, the Serbs beat the Turks, 75 to 58. I was lucky to meet Vitaly Churkin in real life. But in recent years, our correspondent and my colleague in New York Valentin Bogdanov, constantly watched the brilliant work of the Russian representative to the UN.
A record for Russian diplomacy — a total of 11 years Vitaly Churkin spent in the position of Russia's ambassador to the UN, in the Security Council Chamber, he never had a fixed place. Heads of the missions changed chairs every month. He had his favorite one, though. "Well, I like it a little closer to the center more. But, generally speaking, I do not care. I guess, I have made seven circles around the Security Council table while working here, so, as you can see, one can get used to everything".
From the very beginning, he had to get used to it under combat conditions, as Vitaly Churkin told us during the interview, which we prepared two years ago on the eve of a professional holiday for Russian diplomats. Climbing to the top of a career in the Foreign Ministry began for Churkin with a brilliant command of English. A graduate of MGIMO, he even translated for Brezhnev. But Mongolian was his first language when he entered university. For those who understand, it’s an unmistakable sign. It means that there was no protection. Since his days as a student, Churkin achieved it all himself. "I remember it very well, when we were still young and worked in Washington, Vitaly was the most popular speaker from the embassy. That is, when universities asked for someone to give a lecture, everyone would go, of course. But very often there was a request for Churkin, specifically".
One of the examples is an American television broadcast. Churkin received a tricky question: "If you are so poor and it’s so hard for you to maintain your economy, why don’t you leave Nicaragua, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia? I want to hear it from you. If you are so poor and live in small apartments, why don’t you talk about the homeless?" Churkin: "Maybe I didn’t fully understand all the questions, the sound is not very good, but I understood the meaning. We are far from being poor. Are you sure you are not mistaking us for Alabama? Our people don’t live on the street. We don’t have homeless people and unemployment, as you probably know".
Of course, his acting talent, which famous directors spotted in young Churkin, also helped. Those were Mark Donskoy, who shot him in the film "Mother's Heart", and Leo Kulidzhanov, director of "Blue Notebook", in which the future Russia's permanent representative to the UN played the son of the owners of the hut in which Lenin was hiding. "What mushroom is this? It’s an aspen mushroom, isn’t it? No, it’s a rough boletus. Here is the aspen mushroom". In the end, Churkin didn't choose cinema. But he spent his whole life near the cameras anyway.
In 1986, he became the Second Secretary of the Soviet Embassy in Washington. As assigned by the former ambassador, Anatoly Dobrynin, he went to Capitol Hill after receiving messages about the accident in Chernobyl. Moscow didn't know what to do. Churkin brilliantly coped with the situation, fighting off the attacks of congressmen. Don't you think that the Chernobyl disaster showed that the Soviets are on the verge of collapse? They said this to try to hurt him. Does that mean that the loss of the space shuttle Challenger allows you to make such a conclusion in relation to the US? This was his witty answer. In the morning, impressed by such a powerful debut, the Los Angeles Times published an article with the title "Polished Soviet Diplomat Deflects Congress Critics". It was the same all the following years, during which Churkin repeatedly defended the position of our country in the international arena. He was one of the first who offered to send a Russian battalion to Sarajevo. Working as the Special Representative of the Russian President in the Balkans, he risked his life in splitting Yugoslavia, trying to return peace to it.
Kosachev: "A great country was behind him, but, of course, he added his totally unique professional and human qualities to this greatness. He was never afraid to be the first to repel an attack, he was never afraid to take responsibility…" "Very witty, ironic, even sometimes about himself, but the truth is that a great force was always felt in him. I've never seen anyone who could defeat him in all these verbal battles".
Ukraine's permanent representatives — first Sergeev and then Elchenko — were the only ones in recent years who never greeted Churkin out of public view or during meetings. The truth, spoken out by the Russian representative, destroyed the picture which Kiev created according to western patterns. Churkin, taking off their masks, publicly scolded his counterparts: "People came to power in Kiev by a military coup. Many of them have such a reputation that, some time ago, you probably wouldn’t have even shaken hands with them. They seem to be promising you something. They don’t fulfill their promises. Our Western colleagues think that if there is some kind of an armed coup, it’s better if it’s armed, that surely, democratic forces will come to power. Surely, Thomas Jefferson will lead the whole thing".
Bright allusions, unexpected imagery, examples from the history of the countries whose representatives Churkin had to get into debates with. Most often, of course, it was the American permanent representatives. During disputes with such a tough and experienced counterpart, even former journalist Samantha Power would sometimes run out of words. Who does not remember her run across the room to the place where outwardly unruffled and calm Churkin was sitting and remained seated. Probably only Vitaly himself and his family knew what kind of superhuman efforts it took him. Churkin: "The speech by the representative of the United States seemed especially strange to me. She composed it as if she was Mother Teresa herself. Do you remember what country you represent? Consider all the things your country has done! And then you can go ahead and argue from a position of "moral superiority" or something like that. And as far as who is guilty and who is to blame, I think that history and God Himself will sort that out just fine".
Less than a month ago, Churkin gave a lesson in diplomatic skills to his British colleague. For no reason at all, Matthew Rycroft began feeling like a real big shot, and was allowed to openly speak about a touchy topic for Russia — Crimea, in the sense that it was time to give it back to Ukraine. Churkin: "Regarding the position of the representative of the United Kingdom, I would like to give him some advice. Return the Malvinas Islands and Gibraltar, return the annexed part of Cyprus and the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, which you turned into a huge military base".
From the outside, it looked like a ring for ultimate fighting. But after the news of the sudden death of the Russian ambassador spread around the employees of the headquarters on the East River, it became clear how much his opponents really appreciated Churkin and how much they knew about what he was doing for the world not to have a new cold war. That same Matthew Rycroft called Churkin a "diplomatic giant". He was called a "maestro of diplomacy" by Samantha Power. Today, the New York Times featured her heartfelt article entitled "My Friend, the Russian Ambassador". After the meetings, irreconcilable opponents went to each other's homes and celebrated holidays together: "I invited Vitaly and Irina to my parents’ home in Yonkers for Thanksgiving, making him the only United Nations colleague who ever entered my wild Irish family sanctum. While the rest of us diplomats came and went in New York, there was one fixture: Vitaly Churkin, formidable as a foe, caring as a friend and fierce as a defender of Russia, the country he adored and strived to make proud".
The UN journalists, who perfectly knew and respected the Russian ambassador, are in mourning, too, because of his willingness to always explain and interpret even the most incomprehensible things. Churkin’s death was painful for those who considered him their teacher. Zaharova: "He was a star. And the reaction, not only in our country, but the reaction around the world proved it. When people cried out loud, I'm not exaggerating, people, who were his strongest opponents, cried out loud. Because he was a star, because he was an individual and a professional".
The move of the Ukrainian delegation in respect to the memory of Vitaly Churkin seemed petty and stupid. Kiev, taking advantage of its current chairmanship in the Security Council, blocked the Russian proposal to adopt a special decision on the occasion of the death of the head of our mission. Those, who gave this command to Permanent Representative Elchenko, placed themselves beyond good and evil, thinks Sergei Lavrov. Having arrived at the farewell ceremony for Churkin, who wasn’t just a colleague, but an old friend, the Russian Foreign Minister presented the family of the Russian ambassador with the Order of Courage. It is a posthumous award from the President of Russia. He was laid to rest by an honor guard.
Churkin always returned the people's love. Recently, during a celebration of Russian Diplomat's Day, while speaking to journalists that work in New York, Churkin said that he had finished writing a book, which will soon see the light of day. Churkin kept the name secret but shared the half title, "Unfinished Memoirs".
