WASHINGTON, April 02, /ITAR-TASS/. The situation in Ukraine may negatively affect other countries, International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde warned Wednesday.

Speaking in Washington ahead of next week’s spring meeting of the IMF and World Bank governing bodies, Lagarde stressed that “the rise of geopolitical tensions could cloud the global economic outlook”.

“The situation in Ukraine is one which, if not well managed, could have broader spillover implications,” she said.

Other countries also face their own geopolitical problems, Lagarde said.

“Resolving them requires not only good policies, but good politics,” she said. “Both are essential to enable the global economy to move into a higher gear.”

The political, economic and social situation in Ukraine is far from stable following a coup that occurred in the country in February after violent anti-government protests, which started in November 2013 when the country suspended the signing of an association agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia.

President Viktor Yanukovich had to leave the country citing security concerns. Amid riots, new people were brought to power in Kiev.

The crisis deepened when the Republic of Crimea, where most residents are Russians, held a referendum in which an overwhelming majority of voters decided for Crimea to secede from Ukraine and reunify with Russia. A relevant deal with Moscow was signed on March 18.

In the Soviet Union, Crimea used to be part of Russia until 1954, when Nikita Khrushchev, the first secretary of the USSR’s Communist Party, transferred it to Ukraine's jurisdiction as a gift.