Sumner Welles, U.S. Under Secretary of State, issued a declaration that the U.S. government would not recognize the Soviet Union's annexation of the Baltic states.

Sumner Welles

American diplomat (1892–1961)

Benjamin Sumner Welles was an American government official and diplomat. He was a major foreign policy adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and served as Under Secretary of State from 1936 to 1943, during Roosevelt's presidency.

United States Under Secretary of State

Position of the United States Department of State

Under Secretary of State (U/S) is a title used by senior officials of the United States Department of State who rank above the assistant secretaries and below the deputy secretary.

Welles Declaration

1940 U.S. diplomatic statement condemning the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states

The Welles Declaration was a diplomatic statement issued on July 23, 1940, by Sumner Welles, the acting US Secretary of State, condemning the June 1940 occupation by the Soviet army of the three Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – and refusing to diplomatically…

Diplomatic recognition

Acknowledgement of one state for another

Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral declarative political act of a state that acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state. Recognition can be accorded either on a de facto or de jure basis. Partial recognition can…

Occupation of the Baltic states

The Baltic states–Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania– were occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940 and remained under its control until its dissolution in 1991. For a period of several years during World War II, Nazi Germany occupied the Baltic states after it invaded the…