UNITED NATIONS, September 27. /ITAR-TASS/. Mutual sanctions imposed by the Western countries and Russia over the crisis in Ukraine will have harmful effects on the global development and economic growth, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrisov told the UN General Assembly session on Friday.

He recalled that the countries involved in the campaign of sanctions accounted for 60% of the world’s GDP.

“This will certainly cause a disastrous effect on global development and economic growth,” he warned.

Idrisov said the situation in Ukraine was causing Astana’s “special worries”.

“The effects of the crisis have spread not just inside the country, but also far beyond the bounds of the whole region,” he said, adding that Kazakhstan “welcomes the peace initiatives aimed at an early de-escalation of the conflict,” including the Minsk agreements. He called on all parties to take advantage of the ceasefire to act on the peace plans of the Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“They give the hope the situation in Ukraine will return to stability,” Idrisov said.