Pompeo: The US will Never Accept Russia’s Attack on Sovereignty of Georgia, Ukraine

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has issued a statement on the 80th anniversary of the Welles Declaration, stating that the United States will never tolerate Russia’s attack on the sovereignty of Ukraine and Georgia.

The top US diplomat says the Soviet occupation and annexation of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 1940 was “a criminal act” and draws a parallel with present-day Russia’s military maneuvers in Ukraine and Georgia.

“Just as the United States never recognized the Baltic States’ forced incorporation into the Soviet Union, so it will never accept Russia’s attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and Georgia, through its purported annexation of Crimea, its support for destabilizing proxies in eastern Ukraine, or its occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

"The partnership between the United States of America and Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania is based on our joint dedication to democracy, human rights, and rule of law. Today as always, we remain firmly committed to respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of all states. I join the governments and peoples of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in commemorating this date, reaffirming our alliance and democratic partnership, and looking forward to further close cooperation in the years to come," reads the statement.

The Welles Declaration was issued on July 23, 1940, by the then Secretary of State, Sumner Welles. The declaration condemns the occupation of the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia by the Soviet Union.

The statement and Pompeo’s separate video message posted Thursday on the Twitter page of the US Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, marked the 80th anniversary of the Welles Declaration, named after its initiator, the US Acting Secretary of State Sumner Welles.

By Ana Dumbadze