lessons from World War II. peace talks in Ukraine. russian Ukrainian war. European nations

The foreign ministers of the Baltic states, Poland, the Czech Republic, Moldova and Ukraine published a joint op-ed in the New York Times in which they explain, based on the lessons of World War II, which scenarios for ending the russian-Ukrainian war are dangerous and unacceptable.

Lesson 1. Appeasement of the aggressor leads to more aggression, not peace.
Concessions to illegal territorial claims are a catastrophic mistake. The partition of Czechoslovakia in 1938 only whetted the appetite of Nazi Germany and led to a global war. Having learnt this lesson, Ukraine will never agree to legitimise russia's occupation and annexation of any part of Ukraine's territory.
Lesson 2. Spheres of influence do not bring peace and stability.
They bring oppression. Nazi Germany attacked Poland on 1 September 1939, a week after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and its secret protocols between the Soviet Union and the Third Reich, which agreed to divide Poland, the Baltic States, and the rest of Europe. The ceasefire in Europe on 8 May 1945 did not bring freedom to many European nations. They remained under Soviet occupation and control and suffered for decades from international crimes, oppression, persecution and artificial assimilation. 
Lesson 3. Lack of accountability breeds future atrocities.
Nazi crimes were widely exposed, condemned, investigated and prosecuted, unlike Soviet crimes. It is crucial that both totalitarian ideologies are properly assessed in Europe. More light needs to be shed on the crimes of the Soviet regime (and now the russian regime) - deportations, looting of national treasures, falsified criminal cases and murders of political opponents, genocide, ecocide, seizure or destruction of cultural heritage sites, and much more.
Lesson 4. Historical manipulations must be corrected.
As russia continues its war against Ukraine and intensifies its hostile actions against democratic European countries, the need to promote common European narratives of memory on the continent and beyond is becoming more urgent than ever. A truthful assessment and deep understanding of history is the basis of a society's resilience to democracy. We are all ready to stand up to russian disinformation and russia's attempts to rewrite European history.
Lesson 5. As President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: ‘Freedom must be better armed than tyranny’.

Given the current serious security deficit, sufficient defence capability is essential. Si vis pacem, para bellum (If you want peace, prepare for war). Ukraine will never accept any restrictions on its armed forces, defence capabilities or defence assistance. Instead, Kyiv is working to expand its defence industry and achieve defence self-sufficiency.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/opinion/world-war-2-europe-peace.html
Also, read the article about how russia edits the history of World War II in its own interests, deceiving its own citizens and the international community.