U.S. Kicks Out 60 Russian Diplomats Over UK Nerve Agent Attack

The United States is kicking out 60 Russian diplomats and ordering Russia's consulate in Seattle to close in response to the poisoning of an ex-spy in Britain.

Senior Trump administration officials say the expelled Russians include 12 spies who the U.S. believes are working under diplomatic cover at Russia's mission to the United Nations. They say the Seattle consulate is a counter-intelligence concern because of its proximity to a U.S. Navy base.

The officials say the actions are being taken to send a message about the "unacceptably high" number of Russian spies in the U.S. and to respond to the attack in the U.K. The officials weren't authorized to be identified by name and requested anonymity.

The expelled Russians will have seven days to leave the U.S. 

EU chief's also announced that 14 member nations will expel Russian diplomatic staff over the recent poisonings. 

Britain's foreign secretary says the coordinated expulsion of Russian diplomats by the U.S., Canada and European nations is "the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers ever."

Boris Johnson calls the expulsions an "extraordinary international response by our allies" and show that "Russia cannot break international rules with impunity."

Britain blames Russia for the March 4 poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter. On Friday, the 28-nation European Union said it agreed that there is no other plausible explanation.

Russia and Britain have expelled 23 of each other's diplomats over the incident, which has sparked a Cold War-style diplomatic crisis between Russia and the West.

Britain says the Russians it expelled were spies operating under diplomatic cover.

The White House made the announcement in this statement: 

"Today President Donald J. Trump ordered the expulsion of dozens of Russian intelligence officers from the United States and the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle due to its proximity to one of our submarine bases and Boeing. The United States takes this action in conjunction with our NATO allies and partners around the world in response to Russia's use of a military-grade chemical weapon on the soil of the United Kingdom, the latest in its ongoing pattern of destabilizing activities around the world. Today's 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. With these steps, the United States and our allies and partners make clear to Russia that its actions have consequences. The United States stands ready to cooperate to build a better relationship with Russia, but this can only happen with a change in the Russian government's behavior."

Shortly after the announcement, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement on Monday that "The United States calls on Russia to accept responsibility for its actions and to demonstrate to the world that it is capable of living up to its international commitments and responsibilities as a member of the UN Security Council to uphold international peace and security."

The move was one of the most significant actions President Donald Trump's administration has taken to date to push back on Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Less than a week ago, Trump congratulated Putin by phone for his re-election but didn't raise the spy case, renewing questions about whether the U.S. president is too soft on the Kremlin.

(The Associated Press, CBS News contributed to this report.)