Syrian President Bashar al-Assad dismissed allegations that his forces have used chemical weapons in an interview published by a Russian newspaper on Monday and warned Washington that any U.S. military intervention would fail.

"Failure awaits the United States as in all previous wars it has unleashed, starting with Vietnam and up to the present day," he told the Izvestia daily when asked what would happen if Washington decided to strike or invade Syria.
 
Assad said Syrian government forces had been close to where rebel forces say chemical weapons were used last week during the country's more than two-year-old civil war.

"Would any state use chemical or any other weapons of mass destruction in a place where its own forces are concentrated? That would go against elementary logic," Assad told Izvestia, a pro-Kremlin newspaper.

Russia has been Assad's most important international ally throughout the civil war, supplying his troops with arms and resisting pressure at the United Nations for tighter sanctions on Damascus.

Asked about the arms deliveries, Assad said: "I want to say that all contracts that have been concluded with Russia are being fulfilled."

He gave no details and did not say whether Damascus had taken delivery of advanced S-300 air defense systems from Russia which could vastly enhance its defense capabilities.