Russia is trying to convince African nations that food shortages caused by the invasion of Ukraine are not its fault

• Russia's invasion of Ukraine has reduced the global food supply, with NGOs warning of shortages.
• But Russia's foreign minister told African countries that this was Western propaganda, and that the West was causing the shortages.

Russia is trying to convince African nations that global food shortages caused by its invasion of Ukraine are not Russia's fault.

Ukraine is one of the world's largest food producers, particularly for the developing world. But Russia's invasion has harmed the production and export of food.

The United Nations warned earlier this month that a "hunger catastrophe" was coming because of the Ukraine invasion, and that this would particularly affect "Africa, the Middle East, Asia and even Latin America."

But Russia is campaigning to avoid any blame.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov blamed the shortages on the West in a Sunday address to Arab League ambassadors in Cairo, Egypt, the BBC reported.

Lavrov is also due to visit Ethiopia, Uganda and the Republic of the Congo, the BBC reported.

He wrote in newspapers published in those countries that the idea Russia was "exporting famine" was actually Western propaganda, the BBC reported.

He also wrote in the article, according to The New York Times: "We know that the African colleagues do not approve of the undisguised attempts of the US and their European satellites to gain the upper hand, and to impose a unipolar world order to the international community."

Russia and Ukraine signed a UN-backed deal on Friday to restart shipments of grain from three ports, including the port of Odesa. The ports had been cut off by the Russian navy.

But Russian missiles hit the port on Saturday, Ukraine said. Russia initially denied the attack but acknowledged it on Sunday. Ukraine said it would still try to export grain from the port.