US kicks out Russia's no 2 diplomat in Washington

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) – The US expelled the no. 2 diplomat at the Russian Embassy in Washington on Thursday in response to a similar move against the American deputy chief of the diplomatic mission in Moscow in mid-February.

According to a senior State Department official, Moscow was informed of the expulsion of Minister Counselor Sergey Trepelkov on Wednesday, CNN reported. Trepelkov serves under Ambassador Anatoly Antonov.

The diplomat was given a few weeks to leave the US, said CNN.

The move came in response to the expulsion of Bart Gorman, the second-highest official at the US Embassy in Moscow, who left Russia in late January.

The action is not related to Russia's military intervention in Ukraine, according to the official.

In January, 50 Russian diplomats and their families had to leave the US since their visas were not extended, a development Moscow termed as "an expulsion."