The United States has expelled the second-highest ranked diplomat in Russia’s Washington, D.C., embassy in retaliation for previously doing the same to America’s No. 2 diplomat in Moscow.
The State Department informed the Russian Embassy on Wednesday about the expulsion of Minister Counselor Sergey Trepelkov, who was working under Ambassador Anatoly Antonov, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed the news to the Washington Examiner. The representative noted that “the Russian Deputy Chief of Mission previously departed as part of a normal rotation” and that “the Minister Counselor is the next most senior official at the Russian Embassy.”
Earlier this month, Russia expelled U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission to Russia Bart Gorman while the State Department official told the Washington Examiner that this maneuver was “a direct response to the unprovoked Russian expulsion of our deputy chief of mission.”
“We have been crystal clear with the Russians on where we stand — parity and fairness,” the spokesperson added. “The U.S. believes that it is critical that our countries have the necessary diplomatic personnel in place to facilitate communication between our governments. However, we will not let actions like these go without a response.”
At the time, a spokesperson for the department told reporters that “Russia’s action against our DCM was unprovoked, and we consider this an escalatory step and are considering our response,” adding that “DCM Gorman’s tour had not ended; he had a valid visa, and he had been in Russia less than three years.”
The expulsion comes hours after Russia invaded Ukraine, which a senior defense official described as the biggest move of conventional warfare since World War II.
“We haven’t seen a conventional move like this, nation-state to nation-state, since World War II, certainly nothing on this size and scope and scale,” the official said, also adding there is a belief that Russia is “making a move on Kyiv.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The official also said that Russian forces are primarily operating on three “axes of assault,” describing one coming from Belarus heading toward Kyiv, another from Belgorod, Russia, directed toward Kharkiv, and the third coming from Crimea heading north.
President Joe Biden announced additional sanctions on Thursday targeting Russian elites and various Russian institutions.
The president has vowed that the U.S., its allies, and its partners will respond in a united and decisive way, adamant that “Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction” wrought by the offensive.
