INSTANBUL, July 22. /TASS/. A Black Sea corridor to export grain and agricultural produce to the world markets will begin functioning in the coming days, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced in Istanbul on Friday where the grain deal was inked.

Erdogan also thanked the presidents of Russia and Ukraine for their contribution to resolving the grain export problem.

"I want to use this opportunity to thank His Excellency President [of Ukraine Vladimir] Zelensky and His Excellency President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin for their leadership, thanks to which the movement of vessels [in the Black Sea] will be restored in the coming days," Erdogan said.

Earlier, the talks on creating a grain corridor were also held in Istanbul on July 13 and were attended by military delegations from Russia, Turkey and Ukraine and by UN representatives. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said after the meeting that it had made a big step on the way of ensuring safe and reliable transportation of food from Ukraine via the Black Sea. Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov said on July 15 that the participants in the talks in Turkey basically supported Russia’s proposals.