Kazakhstan Foreign Minister tags crisis in Ukraine anomaly

Ukrainian crisis is anomalous in nature and cannot last long. This statement was made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Yerlan Idrissov during the high-level conference Security and Stability in SCO Region held in Moscow on June 4, Tengrinews reports citing RIA Novosti.

He said that Astana was ready to contribute to early settlement of the Ukrainian crisis. "Of course, we cannot ignore the crisis in Ukraine. It is the most painful crisis for all of us... We believe that it is time to take active measures to overcome it... There is a clear format in the Minsk agreements as to how it is to be overcome. Therefore, we are calling on all the parties to strictly adhere to the Minsk format and we believe that this is the only path that can lead us to overcoming this deep crisis. It is abnormal in nature and we believe that history will not let it continue for a long time," Idrissov said.

Kazakhstan and President Nazarbayev personally are take part in the settlement of the crisis, he said. "Kazakhstan is ready to assist in resolving the crisis in our region," the head of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said.

The crisis in Ukraine has seriously affected the country's economy. In fact, Ukraine is now on the brink of a default. The national currency hryvnia has defaulted more than three-fold in one year. As a result, according to the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, in January 2015 the average wages in the country amounted to 3455 hryvnia, or about $160, which is among the lowest in Europe. The rate of the GDP decline is now estimated by the National Bank of Ukraine at the level of -7.5 percent, the inflation rate is at 34.5 percent.

Writing by Dinara Urazova, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina