United States expels Russia's second-ranking diplomat

Russia's second-ranking diplomat, Sergey Trepelkov, on Thursday was expelled by the United States in response to the Kremlin's expulsion of the second-highest U.S. diplomat in Moscow, a senior State Department official told the Associated Press.

The expulsion is not related to Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, but is "part of a long-running dispute between Washington and Moscow over embassy staffing," according to AP.

The State Department official, who did not have authorization to speak about the expulsion before a public announcement, said that the Russian Embassy has been informed of Minister Counselor Trepelkov's expulsion.

U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Bart Gorman was expelled from Moscow in mid-February. 

The action was "a direct response to the unprovoked Russian expulsion of our deputy chief of mission," the official told the AP.

The two countries have had diplomatic staffing problems since 2017 after then-President Barack Obama expelled numerous Russian diplomats and closed diplomatic missions over 2016 election interference. Russia responded with other diplomatic measures and current Ambassador Anatoly Antonov was appointed in August 2017.