Soviet politician. Member of the communist party from 1906. From1930 to1941 he was the president and between1941-46 the first vice president of the Council of People's Commissars. Between 1939-49 and 1953-56 he was commissar for foreign affairs, from 1946 minister of foreign affairs, from 1941 to1945 the vice president of the State Defence Committee. Throughout his career he was a committed follower of Stalin and his policies. He signed the German-Russian non-aggression pact with his German counterpart Ribbentrop in August,1939. After the German attack on Russia, he created close connections with the Allies. During the leadership of Khrushchev, he gradually lost his powers, and finally he was excluded from the party.