TEHRAN, November 30 (MNA) – Despite kicking off nuclear arms modernization, the US is still struggling to catch up with Russia and China, according to Institute of World Economy and International Relations with the Russian Academy of Sciences."Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, [the US] had been engaged in everything, but the development and production of [nuclear] munitions.

And, accordingly, to resume the process now is a very, very difficult task, which they are accomplishing at huge costs and with a significant disruption of deadlines," Dmitry Stefanovich tells Sputnik.

By contrast, Russia and China never stopped developing their respective nuclear and strategic missiles programs, he continues.

If the US starts a nuclear race in earnest, the Russians and Chinese would be capable of immediately ramping up production, the pundit explains.

The potential arms race would put a burden on the US economy, according to the expert.

"[The US] already needs to build new [nuclear] weapons anyway and try to extend the service life of the old ones.

And, in general, this is quite a difficult task.

And already in the medium term, continuing to build up or even maintaining the expanded arsenal will require huge resources," Stefanovich points out.

On November 29, Sputnik reviewed a report by the Russian think tank Roscongress Foundation that warned that the pace of US nuclear weapons modernization is accelerating, meaning Washington has de facto launched an arms race against Russia and China.

RHM/