By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/unmar1russia030210.html
UNITED NATIONS, March 2 -- Russia's Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin, in an increasingly rare on the record session with the Press, trashed the UN's "semi-transparent" memorandum of understanding with NATO while praising the "CIS Symphonic Orchestra" and a road safety resolution sponsored by the Russian Federation.
Since he's called the MOU "semi-transparent," Inner City Press asked Ambassador Churkin if he had seen the whole agreement and if so, why not release it? Churkin laughed. "You underestimate our persistence here," he said, adding that Russia saw the MOU the day it was signed. Video here, from Minute 23:09.
His complaint, he said, was the NATO's Secretary General has been misrepresenting this "modest document... out of proportion," most recently at the Munich Conference. Churkin said Russia had been "unpleasantly surprised at the way it was done." It was done under UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Inner City Press asked Churkin about Mr. Ban's naming of Finland's Antti Turunen as his Representative for Georgia, replacing Johan Verbeke of Belgium -- does this mean that Georgia is still on the Security Council agenda? "Technically it is," Churkin replied.
He said that Turunen will represent the UN at the Geneva talks, and that his appointment has the subject of a letter of information from Mr. Ban to the President of the Security Council which didn't require a reply.
On road safety, earlier on Tuesday Inner City Press asked WHO's Etienne Krug, does the drive for better roads simply lead to more driving and pollution? Inner City Press asked -- video here, from Minute 8:39 -- but Krug said that the UN is also in favor of more and safer public transportation.
Inner City Press also asked about the UN's own drive practices. Krug said that road accidents are the leading cause of death of UN staff worldwide, and that the UN should improve its practices. But will it?
And see, www.innercitypress.com/unmar1russia030210.html