In the midst of Russia's war crisis in Ukraine, now in its second year, controversy has escalated in recent hours over Russia's decision to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus.
Russian President Vladimir Putin defended the decision and accused NATO of expanding East Asia, while a spokesman for the alliance said Russia's rhetoric on nuclear weapons was dangerous and irresponsible, adding that the alliance was vigilant and monitoring the situation.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Belarus's hosting of Russian nuclear weapons was a threat to European security.
With the ongoing debate over the possible deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, the accompanying report to Al Jazeera takes a look at the most prominent strategic bombers capable of carrying missiles with nuclear warheads in Russia and the United States, the first of which has the Tupolev-160 bomber and the second relies on the B-160-Lancer.