Russia has rejected accusations that its invasion of Ukraine has created serious threats to global food security, instead blaming Western sanctions.

The West has accused the Russian military of holding food supplies hostage for millions around the world.

The war in Ukraine has blocked the country's main ports on the Black sea, severely impacting food supply chains around the world. Ukraine is a major exporter of wheat, but now millions of tonnes of grain are stuck - impacting the countries that can least afford it.

"The attempts of the West to attribute all troubles to the special military operation and accuse Russia of blocking foreign ships in the ports of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov are absolutely groundless," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"The main catalyst for the existing negative trends was the anti-Russian sanctions of the West, which led to a rupture of ties in the field of global logistics and transport infrastructure," she said.

The hike in prices for agricultural products started in 2020 "and is by no means a result of the special military operation" in Ukraine she claimed, before also blaming Covid.

The pandemic "has severely disrupted value chains and significantly increased the cost of food transportation services", she added.