Russian economy could contract as much as 1.8 percent this year, if the Ukraine crisis continues to roil and becomes more serious, said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim Thursday.

"If the crisis goes longer and has a deeper impact, we feel that the Russian economy could contract as much as 1.8 percent this year," said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim at his opening press briefing at the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings 2014."So this is very serious issue for Russia, a very serious issue for it growth prospects, so we simply urge all of the parties to continue with negotiations and find a peaceful means of moving forward."

Kim said at present the World Bank maintained a very strong relationship with both the Ukrainian and Russian governments and watched the issue carefully.

The World Bank has provided Ukraine with a rescue package worth of 3.5 billion U.S. dollars, including about 1.5 billion dollars in direct budget support and the rest 2 billion dollars going for infrastructure projects and programs supporting poorest people. Endite

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