hello and welcome to bbc news. dmytro kuleba, ukraine s foreign minister, has warned that countries which mistreated ukraine during the darkest moment of its history will be held to account after the war ends. in an interview with the bbc, he also warned western allies that delaying the delivery of weapons will cost the lives of ukrainian soldiers. he has spoken to our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. the battle for bakhmut is now the longest of the war. more than half a year of bloody fighting for control of what is little more than rubble. but ukraine s foreign minister told me holding the city was vital, and notjust for the damage it s causing to russia s army. defending bakhmut is emotionally very challenging, because people find it hard emotionally to take, carry the burden of this death, loss of human life and destruction. it s a struggle to save those who are behind bakhmut from that same destiny as bakhmut is now suffering from. he said what ukraine needs
this is bbc news broadcasting in the uk and around the globe. our top stories. ukraine s foreign minister has warned that countries failing to support kyiv during its darkest hour will be held to account. china s president, xijinping, is to make a state visit to russia next week. more than 1,000 passport office workers will go on strike for five weeks over a dispute aboutjobs, pay and conditions. the uk government and education unions have agreed to hold intensive talks on teacher pay, conditions and workload reduction. and a former professional surfer has broken the world record for the longest surf session in australia