MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin who passed away on February 20 was a brilliant diplomat, a versatile personality and the most skillful representative of his generation of diplomats, Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov who oversees international issues in the Kremlin administration told reporters.

He called Churkin’s passing "a great loss for our diplomacy." "A brilliant and versatile diplomat," he said referring to his colleague, adding that he knew him well personally, including during his tenure in the Russian Foreign Ministry’s central office and on the American continent (Ushakov at one time was Russian Ambassador in Washington, and Churkin - the head of the diplomatic mission in Canada).

"Emphasis is currently placed, including in media reports, on his energetic public debates, powerful speeches at the UN Security Council meetings. I can say though that he was indeed a well-rounded diplomat superbly fulfilling the part of the diplomatic work closed to others," Ushakov emphasized. He added that Churkin wrote extremely articulate telegrams and reports to Moscow in very clear and comprehensible Russian.

"All his dispatches were informative, analytical and easy to read and understand."

Churkin was a "top-quality diplomat," a very versatile and skillful person," Ushakov said. "I would say, of our generation, [Churkin] was, perhaps, the best and brightest," he added.