MOSCOW

Russia has expelled the US deputy chief of diplomatic mission in Moscow, US Embassy's spokesman Jason Rebholz said on Thursday.

Bart Gorman, the second-highest official of the US Embassy in Moscow, left Russia late January, Rebholz said in an interview with the Russian state-run RIA news agency.

The move came a month after 50 Russian diplomats and their families had to leave the US since their visas were not extended, a development Moscow dubbed "an expulsion."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the diplomat was expelled "in response to the unjustified expulsion of the Adviser-Envoy of the Russian Embassy in Washington."

Commenting on Gorman's departure, the US State Department called on Russia "to end its baseless expulsions of US diplomats and staff and to work productively to rebuild our missions."

"Now more than ever, it is critical that our countries have the necessary diplomatic personnel in place to facilitate communication between our governments," a spokesperson said.