Not "now", but to thwart the (potential, hypothetical) nuclear attack.
It can be a bomber, using an air-launched cruise missile fired from Russian territory rather than a bomb (presumably, assuming they're not totally insane, a very low yield warhead on some sort of isolated military target, or just Zmiinyi Island for that matter, unless Putin's all "fuck the optics I'm going in" and does a straight up terror attack), or it can be something else (you can even use an artillery gun to conduct a nuclear strike, even with a suitably low yield - unless, again, they're totally crazy and want to go big).
But the Americans have all sorts of intelligence tracking the Russian nuclear weapons (and everything else but these are high priority), and that's apparently including some kind of a mole on the very top of Russian leadership (people like to half joke about the comically nervous SVR chief Naryshkin, or General Shoigu whom the Russians love to scapegoat in public because they can't criticize the Supreme Leader).
Of course NATO (and friends, from Australia to Japan) can punish Russia. We even do it right now if you really somehow failed to notice.
It was not at all clear that it was talk of intercepting a bomber. But rather attacking now, because ????
The US has no right to 'punish' Russia, or anyone.
Not "now", but to thwart the (potential, hypothetical) nuclear attack.
It can be a bomber, using an air-launched cruise missile fired from Russian territory rather than a bomb (presumably, assuming they're not totally insane, a very low yield warhead on some sort of isolated military target, or just Zmiinyi Island for that matter, unless Putin's all "fuck the optics I'm going in" and does a straight up terror attack), or it can be something else (you can even use an artillery gun to conduct a nuclear strike, even with a suitably low yield - unless, again, they're totally crazy and want to go big).
But the Americans have all sorts of intelligence tracking the Russian nuclear weapons (and everything else but these are high priority), and that's apparently including some kind of a mole on the very top of Russian leadership (people like to half joke about the comically nervous SVR chief Naryshkin, or General Shoigu whom the Russians love to scapegoat in public because they can't criticize the Supreme Leader).
Of course NATO (and friends, from Australia to Japan) can punish Russia. We even do it right now if you really somehow failed to notice.
Also https://kotakuinaction2.win/p/15JnU9dOZ6/x/c/4Oeyr0j0m1f