An agreement for shipping grain from Ukrainian ports through the Black Sea will be signed on Friday with the participation of Russia, Ukraine, the United Nations and Türkiye, the Turkish presidency said on Thursday. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are expected to attend the signing ceremony, which will be held at the Dolmabahce Presidential Office in Istanbul on Friday at 18:30 local time (15:30 GMT), it said. The agreement comes at a time when there are growing concerns about a global food shortage as a result of the protracted crisis in Ukraine, which is partially blamed for the food price hikes across the world. Last week, the four parties held their first round of negotiations in Istanbul with an aim to ship Ukraine's grain to the world market to ease the supply. Read: Turkey again asks Sweden, Finland to extradite suspects Türkiye has long served as a mediator in the effort to establish a mechanism that will prevent a food crisis by enabling Ukraine to export its grain to the global market via sea routes. Istanbul will become an operational hub where the entire shipping process will be carried out, Turkish officials have said. Türkiye controls maritime traffic entering and exiting the Black Sea through the Bosphorus Strait. ■