It is almost a year since we woke up to the news that Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The country's will to defend itself has been praised and is seen as one of the reasons why it managed to stop and in some areas beat back the Russian forces.
Applebaum believes that the will to fight is not only about the right to their territorial borders, but also about protecting the people from the terror that awaits the people under Russian occupation.
- They want to protect the people from what the Russian occupation entails.
It can be compared to the Nazi occupation in the 1930s and 40s and the Soviet occupation after World War II, she says.
Peace negotiations pointless
Anne Applebaum, who has written several books about Russia, Putin and Eastern Europe, finds it difficult to see that peace negotiations would solve the conflict at the moment.
- Negotiations could lead to the conflict being put on pause to allow Russia to regroup and then resume the invasion in a year.
She says the war will end when Russia realizes they can't win.
- If the war is to end forever, Ukraine must take back all its land and become part of a security alliance that makes a continuation of the war impossible.