(NDAgConnection.com) – Ankara and Moscow will engage in talks to create a potential sea corridor that will free up Ukrainian agricultural exports, as Russia’s top diplomat is set to pay a visit to Turkey next week.

The visit will follow President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an’s talks with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, the latest of the efforts to unblock shipments of Ukraine’s grains that have been stuck since Moscow invaded three months ago.

Accompanied by a military delegation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is set to visit Turkey on June 8 for talks on the issue of opening a security corridor that also includes the shipping of wheat in the Black Sea, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu said Tuesday.

“This is the most important question. We are focusing on this. We are planning to establish a center in Istanbul to observe the corridor,” Çavu?o?lu told Anadolu Agency (AA).

In a call with Erdo?an on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was ready to work with Ankara to free up maritime shipping blocked over the conflict.

Putin noted the “readiness of the Russian side to facilitate the unhindered sea transit of goods in coordination with Turkish partners. This also applies to the export of grain from Ukrainian ports,” according to the Kremlin readout of the talks.

“During the discussion of the situation in Ukraine, emphasis was placed on ensuring safe navigation in the Black and Azov seas and eliminating the mine threat in their waters,” the Kremlin said.

Russia’s offensive in Ukraine and Western sanctions have disrupted supplies of wheat and other commodities from the two countries, fuelling concerns about the risk of shortages and hunger around the world.

The United Nations, which says a global food crisis is deepening, is trying to broker a deal to unblock Ukraine’s grain exports though Western leaders have blamed Russia for holding the world to ransom by blockading Ukrainian ports.