range of options are and how they may split nato. to the degree that he got confirmation of his view that there are splits in nato, then perhaps so. but i thought overall the president in his response was actually pushing back on putin pretty hard. it was interesting to see where he took this question. i asked him about whether or not putin wanted to have a cold war resumption. he answered by saying, well, i don t think he wants to go back into a full-scale war. and then preceded to describe where putin was sort of jammed in between the west and china. and in some ways he almost described putin as a somewhat weak figure who is making quick, tactical decisions rather than big, strategic ones. and i think that was an effort by the president not to declare