Vladimir Putin names new Russian envoy to UN

Vladimir Putin names new Russian envoy to UN

President Vladimir Putin has replaced the current envoy to the United Nations, Andrey Denisov, with veteran diplomat Vitaly Churkin, the Kremlin said Monday.

Denisov has been appointed first deputy foreign minister, the Kremlin press service said.

Churkin served previously in the Soviet Embassy in Washington, as press spokesman for perestroika-era Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, and as Russia's ambassador to NATO, among other postings. He speaks Russian, English, French and Mongolian, reports the AP.

I.L.