response? a build-up of romania and poland. is this russia s response? a build-up of russian - response? a build up of russian troops near ukraine s border. the kremlin denies it plans to invade, but this is pressure, and on the west too, as moscow demands an end to nato enlargement and nato military activity in eastern europe, what it calls security guarantees. you must give us guarantees, you must do it, immediately, now. we won t be palmed off with decades of idle chatter about the need of security for all while the other side carries out its own plans. vladimir putin spoke for a long time, but gave little away about his intentions, regarding ukraine, about whether, as the west fears, he is planning a large scale military operation there. but what we do know now is that next month, us and russian officials will sit down to discuss the security guarantees that moscow is demanding, so there s still hope for a diplomatic resolution. vladimir putin has done