Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has warned Israel that Damascus will retaliate in kind to any future Israeli airstrike on his territory."

 

　　Assad has also told Lebanese TV station Al-Manar that Russia has fulfilled some of its weapons contracts recently.

 

　　However he was vague on whether this included advanced S-300 air defense systems.

 

　　"The contracts with Russia are not connected to the crisis, we have been negotiating with them on different types of weapon for years. Russia and Syria are committed to implementing the contracts so what I want to say is that neither Netanyahu's visit nor the crisis have affected the import of weapons."

 

　　Israel has warned it will attack if the defense system is used against it.

 

　　Earlier this month, Israel struck near Damascus, targeting suspected shipments of advanced weapons purportedly intended for Hezbollah.

 

　　Syria did not respond at that time.

 

　　Meantime, in a recent interview Assad has said his administration would send an official delegation to attend an international peace conference next month in Geneva, organized by Russia and the US.

 

　　However, the oppositional National Coalition says they will not take part in the Geneva conference because of the ongoing fighting in the central city of al-Qussair.