MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. The food crisis was invented by the West and Kiev to blame Russia, but there have never been any food shortages in reality, a high-ranking Russian foreign ministry official said.

"Kiev and the West have been actively trying to speculate on the issue of global food security, accusing Russia of undermining it," Kirill Logvinov, director of the ministry’s international organizations department, told TASS. "But in fact, as the implementation of the Istanbul agreements, especially the Black Sea grain initiative, has clearly demonstrated, there has been no shortage of food on global markets."

"But there is a significant growth in the cost of its supply amid the anti-Russian sanctions, which have led to the disruption of financial and logistical chains and insurance schemes," Logvinov said.