The Russian government has held discussions with a delegation from the United States department of agriculture on the possible supply of food aid to allieviate shortages in the country.

The Americans say they have been asked to provide significant quantities of meat, rice and grain.

The Russian Agriculture Minister, Viktor Semyonov, told a commercial TV station that Moscow, St Petersburg and Sverdlovsk were among the regions worst hit by food shortages.

This year's wheat harvest in Russia was the worst in twenty years, the potato crop has been hit by disease and food imports have fallen since the rouble collapsed.

The BBC Moscow Correspondent says the presence of the American delegation is an open admission by the Russian government, that it does need food aid despite attempts to deny it.