{"id":11042,"date":"2017-03-10T19:34:53","date_gmt":"2017-03-10T19:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/vitaly-churkin-us-will-not-release-cause-of-russians-death\/"},"modified":"2017-03-10T19:34:53","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T19:34:53","slug":"vitaly-churkin-us-will-not-release-cause-of-russians-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/vitaly-churkin-us-will-not-release-cause-of-russians-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Vitaly Churkin: US will not release cause of Russian’s death"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"FlowersImage copyright AP
Image caption Details of Mr Churkin's death will not be disclosed, US officials said <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The US state department has instructed New York City's chief medical examiner not to disclose the cause of death of Russia's ambassador to the United Nations.<\/p>\n

Vitaly Churkin died suddenly at work in his New York office last month.<\/p>\n

The office of the chief medical examiner said that details of his death were being withheld to comply with international law.<\/p>\n

Mr Churkin had served as ambassador to the UN since 2006.<\/p>\n

The cause of the veteran diplomat's death remains unclear.<\/p>\n

"The New York City Law Department has instructed the Office of Chief Medical Examiner to not publicly disclose the cause and manner of death of Ambassador Vitaly Churkin," a spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office, Julie Bolcer, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

"Ambassador Churkin's diplomatic immunity survives his death," the statement, which was posted online by New York Times reporter Michael Grynbaum, added.<\/p>\n

A state department official told the BBC that further comment or details on the results of the post-mortem could not be disclosed because of an agreement between the US and the UN. <\/p>\n

In a letter to the city's legal office, the United States's UN mission said the Russian government had already complained about statements made by city officials regarding Mr Churkin's medical history.<\/p>\n

Russian officials argued that the information was private and that disclosing details could cause embarrassment to the ambassador's family or hurt his reputation. <\/p>\n

They did not specify which reports the Russian government had cited.<\/p>\n

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was "grieved" to learn of the death of Mr Churkin, who had developed a reputation as a steadfast defender of Russian policy.<\/p>\n

The foreign ministry also paid tribute to an "outstanding diplomat".<\/p>\n