Ukraine crisis: What is Russia's problem with NATO?

For months now alarm bells have punctured the international preoccupation with the pandemic: over Russia's massive troop buildup on its Ukrainian border.

US intelligence warned that Russia may be preparing an invasion. Moscow denied it but followed up with a series of specific demands from NATO and the United States that go far beyond Ukraine.

Both Washington and NATO responded on January 26 by offering dialogue but no concessions.

Many have asked, what are Putin's real intentions? Is there an adequate deterrent? And if Russia does attack, do NATO and the West have the capacity to respond in a sufficiently robust manner?

The crisis has called into question Western unity. It has also put the spotlight back on NATO in particular, two years after President Macron famously called the transatlantic military alliance "brain dead".

Tensions between Russia and the West have been building ever since Vladimir Putin started his proxy war in eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea. In response, NATO sent reinforcements to countries seen as vulnerable to Russian aggression.

In December, Moscow set out its security demands in two documents: a proposed treaty with the US, and an agreement with NATO.

Essentially, Russia now wants guarantees that NATO will halt its eastward expansion, rule out membership for Ukraine and other former Soviet countries, and roll back its military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

"Putin has now demanded a reset and wants all NATO forces withdrawn. In effect, he wants recognition that these nations are within Moscow’s sphere of influence," wrote Geoffrey Van Orden of the Gold Institute for International Strategy, in an opinion article for Euronews.

"What is Putin really up to? He is testing Western resolve. He