The United States’ (US) Department of State warned that it will retaliate against the Russian government’s decision to expel Bart Gorman, the Deputy Chief of the US mission in Moscow. Washington called the move “unprovoked,” while Moscow says it was a retaliatory action.
A senior State Department official told CNN that Gorman was in fact expelled earlier this year but departed Russia only last week after the Kremlin gave him a two-week notice to leave the country. The State Department waited until Thursday to announce Gorman’s departure publicly; a spokesperson said the department saw the move as an “escalatory step,” confirming that Gorman had a valid visa and had been working in Russia for less than three years. “We call on Russia to end its baseless expulsions of US diplomats and staff and to work productively to rebuild our mission,” The spokesperson added.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Gorman was a “key member” of the embassy’s team, adding that it is crucial to have diplomatic personnel in place to facilitate communication between the US and Russia amid an environment of escalated tensions.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova clarified that the Kremlin’s decision to expel Gorman was “strictly” done to retaliate the “groundless” expulsion of a minister-counsellor from the Russian embassy in Washington; Zakharova did not provide the name of the Russian official. Zakharova went on to slam the American media for framing the situation as “an intentional escalation on the Russian side.” She also accused Washington of conducting a “visa war” by not approving the visas of Russian officials in Washington, leaving the embassy facing a “critical shortage of personnel.”
Last December, Russia issued an order asking all US Embassy staff who had been in Russia for more than three years to leave the country. The move was in response to the US expelling 27 diplomats from Russia’s embassy in Washington.
The US embassy in Moscow is the US’ only operational diplomatic mission in Russia; consulates in Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg were closed in 2017 after Washington’s diplomatic presence in the country was reduced from 1,200 personnel to 120. Direct diplomatic ties between Russia and the West, particularly the US, have significantly deteriorated in recent months. Last October, Russia suspended its diplomatic mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) over an espionage spat with the Western alliance.