Bart Gorman, deputy chief of mission at the United States embassy in Moscow, has been expelled from Russia, confirmed the Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday.

Gorman was ordered to leave in response to the "unjustified" expulsion of the minister-counselor of the Russian embassy in Washington, said the ministry's spokesperson Maria Zakharova in a statement, following media reports earlier in the day.

"It is true that the US diplomat was told to leave Russia, but that was done strictly in retaliation for the groundless expulsion of a minister-counselor of our embassy in Washington, contrary to his senior diplomatic rank," Zakharova said.

Moreover, she said the US Department of State defiantly ignored Russia's request for prolonging his stay at least until a substitute arrived. As a result, he had to leave without being replaced, merely worsening the already critical personnel shortage at the Russian embassy, which emerged as a result of the "visa war" unleashed by the US,Zakharova added.

Russia has for months complained that the US authorities have blocked visas for its diplomats, or that Gorman issued them slowly.

The US embassy promised a response to Gorman's expulsion.

"Gorman was the second most senior official at the US Embassy in Moscow after the ambassador and a key member of the embassy's senior management team," embassy spokesman Jason Rebholz was quoted by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti as saying.

Gorman served as charge d'affaires at the US mission in Moscow after the 2019 resignation of former president Donald Trump's appointee Jon Huntsman.

He continued as deputy chief of mission after the appointment of Ambassador John Sullivan under President Joe Biden in 2020.

His expulsion came as the US issued increasingly detailed warnings of a possible imminent Russian "invasion" of Ukraine.

The blog Diplopundit reported on Monday that Gorman had departed Moscow with his family last Thursday.

The expulsion also came the same day as the US State Department announced Secretary of State Antony Blinken's meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov next week, "provided there is no further Russian invasion of Ukraine".

Russia has repeatedly denied the accusation of a possible invasion and said on Friday it had begun withdrawing more tanks and other armored vehicles from areas near Ukraine's border.

Extremely dangerous

Still, Rosemary DiCarlo, the United Nations' under-secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, said the current situation concerning Ukraine is extremely dangerous.

"Although seemingly intractable, given the stakes involved for our collective security and European stability, these issues can and must be solved through diplomacy in the full use of the many available regional and other mechanisms and frameworks. We support all such efforts, including through the secretary-general's good offices," she said.

On Thursday, clashes broke out in east Ukraine and the Ukraine military said the shells hit a kindergarten, wounding two civilians.