BRICS states fear strike on Syria could hurt world economy: Russia

Reuters
Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff gestures next to India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, China's President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma (L-R) as they pose for a picture after a BRICS leaders' meeting at the G20 Summit in Strelna near St. Petersburg, September 5, 2013. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - Leaders of the BRICS group of emerging economies expressed concern on Thursday during talks at a Group of 20 summit that a military strike on Syria could hurt the world economy, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said. "It was noted within BRICS dialogue that among the factors that could negatively affect the global economic situation are the consequences of the eventual foreign intervention into Syrian affairs. Such consequences can have an extremely negative effect on global economy," Dmitry Peskov said. The BRICS group includes China, Russia, Brazil, India and South Africa. (Reporting by Alexei Anishchuk; Writing by Steve Gutterman, Editing by Timothy Heritage)