Briefly

RUSSIA

Putin offers US 1-year nuclear control deal

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he was ready to extend by one year the last arms control treaty between Washington and Moscow if US President Donald Trump does the same. The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which caps the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the United States and Russia can deploy, and the deployment of land- and submarine-based missiles and bombers to deliver them, is due to run out on Feb 5.Putin told a meeting of Russia's Security Council that he was ready to roll over the treaty by one year in the interests of global nonproliferation and to help spur dialogue with Washington about the treaty's successor if Trump was ready to do the same.

SYRIA

Committee sets Oct 5 for parliamentary vote

Syria's supreme committee for parliamentary elections announced on Sunday that voting for the 250-seat People's Assembly will be held on Oct 5, marking the country's first legislative election since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad's government last year. The committee stated that the decision was made in accordance with the constitutional declaration and decrees issued earlier this year by interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, who established the election authority in June. The polls will follow a temporary, indirect electoral system aimed at forming a new legislature within 60 to 90 days.

Agencies - Xinhua