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Today marks 85 years since Sumner Welles Declaration — a bold statement by U.S,🇺🇸denouncing the Soviet occupation of Lithuania🇱🇹, Latvia🇱🇻, and Estonia🇪🇪. At a time when 3 Baltic States were forcibly annexed by the Soviet Union, the United States declared it would never recognize the legitimacy of this occupation. The Welles Declaration was not just symbolic — it was a diplomatic lifeline which affirmed that Lithuania’s diplomatic missions abroad remained open, they continued to fly the Lithuanian flag, and our diplomats acted in the name of a country that had been erased from maps — but not from law. 50 other countries have followed the U.S. and never recognized the occupation of the Baltic States. The Welles Declaration upheld continuity of the state of Lithuania in the face of brutal occupation and embodied a simple but powerful truth: no country should ever gain territory through aggression. Today, as Russia rages the war of aggression against Ukraine🇺🇦, the message of the Welles Declaration is more urgent than ever: illegal occupation and border changed by force cannot be accepted. Freedom is not negotiable. #WellesDeclaration