The United States on Monday announced the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats and intelligence officers, as well as the closure of Russia’s Seattle consulate, in response to the poisoning of ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal in England allegedly orchestrated by the Kremlin.

The White House said in a statement these “actions make the United States safer by reducing Russia’s ability to spy on Americans and to conduct covert operations that threaten America’s national security.”