U.S. and Russian diplomats spar over Pussy Riot
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Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, apparently initiated the exchange when she posted on her Twitter account about meeting formerly imprisoned band members Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, both of whom were released in December.
Power posted a photograph of herself with the two punk rockers, who "came by to discuss their time in jail," Power tweeted. She also stated: "Met some brave 'troublemakers' today."
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Then the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, told a U.N. press conference that Power should join the band and invite them to play at the National Cathedral in Washington.
Power responded on Twitter: "Ambassador Churkin, I'd be honored to go on tour with #PussyRiot -- a group of girls who speak up & stand for human rights. Will you join us?"
Power also added: "I can't sing, but if #PussyRiot will have me, Amb Churkin, I say our 1st concert is for Russia's pol. prisoners. #LiveFromMatrosskayaTishina."
Matrosskaya Tishina is a notorious Moscow prison where opposition activists have been held.
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http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/06/world/pussy-riot-controversy-ambassadors-olympics/