Russia said Monday it will extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative after it expires on March 18, but only for 60 days. The announcement came after consultations between U.N. representatives in Geneva and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin.

"The Russian side, noting the package nature of the Istanbul agreements proposed by UN Secretary General António Guterres, does not object to another extension of the Black Sea initiative after the expiration of the second term on March 18, but only for 60 days," Vershinin said, according to Russian media reports.

Russia's consultations in Geneva on the grain deal were not easy, Vershinin said. Russia will rely on the effectiveness of the implementation of the agreement on the export of its agricultural products when deciding on a new extension of the grain deal, according to reports.

Ukraine, which is a key world exporter of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and fertilizer, had its shipments blocked in the months following the invasion by Russia, causing a worldwide spike in food prices. The first deal was brokered last July.

Russian forces suffered more than 1,100 dead in less than a week during battles near the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the focal point of fighting in eastern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday.

During his nightly address, Zelenskyy described the battles as "Russia's irreversible loss."

Russian forces also sustained about 1,500 "sanitary losses," meaning soldiers were wounded badly enough to keep them out of further action, Zelenskyy said.

Dozens of pieces of enemy equipment were destroyed, as were more than 10 Russian ammunition depots, Zelenskyy said.

-ABC News' Edward Seekers

The investigation into who was behind the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline explosion should be "objective, impartial and transparent," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian news agency Interfax.

"I do not want to threaten anyone. I do not want to hint at anything either. I just know that this flagrant terror attack will not go uninvestigated," Lavrov added.

Russia also said it will distribute its correspondence with Germany, Denmark and Sweden on the investigation of the Nord Stream explosion among the members of the United Nations Security Council soon.

Russia claimed the three countries are denying Russia access to information and participation in the investigation, first deputy permanent representative to the U.N. Dmitry Polyansky said in an interview, according to Russian news agency TASS.

-ABC News' Anastasia Bagaeva and Tanya Stukalova

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied that Ukraine had anything to do with the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions last year.

"As for the Nord Stream, we have nothing to do with it," Zelenskyy said Friday.

The New York Times published a report that U.S. intelligence suggests that a pro-Ukrainian group sabotaged the pipeline.

Zelenskyy also suggested that the information being spread about the involvement of pro-Ukrainian groups in the attack could be done to slow down aid to his country.

-ABC News' Natalia Shumskaia

The Russian State Duma will arrest anyone who agrees with the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin accusing him of committing war crimes, the State Duma said on its official Telegram channel Monday.

Russia will imprison those who "call for the implementation of the decision" of the International Criminal Court "on the arrest of Vladimir Putin accused of war crimes," the State Duma of the Russian Federation said.

"The profile committees of the State Duma are preparing amendments to the Federal Law 'On Security,' which will prohibit the activities of the International Criminal Court and international bodies directed against the Russian Federation on our territory and its citizens," Chairman of State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes in March, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine.

-ABC News' Oleksiy Pshemyskiy