What does the end of US-Russia nuclear arms treaty mean for disarmament?

Russian soldiers equip a tactical missile system able to carry a conventional or nuclear warhead, in Kubinka, outside Moscow, on 17 June 2015. © REUTERS - Sergei Karpukhin

For 15 years, the New Start treaty bound the United States and Russia to curb their nuclear arsenals – until it expired earlier this month. Researcher Benoit Pelopidas tells RFI what hope remains for disarmament now that there are no longer fixed limits on the world's two largest nuclear powers.

In what could mark a major turning point in the history of arms control, New Start expired on 5 February. Neither US President Donald Trump nor his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has shown interest in renewing it.