The Bishop of Coventry wants the city to retain its link with Volgograd.

Coventry council voted last week to suspend the city's 80-year twinning arrangement with the Russian city due to the Ukrainian war, despite an appeal by the Right Reverend Christopher Cocksworth for it to continue.

The bishop said it was important to "draw a distinction between the Putin state and the people of Russia".

He said he would keep in contact with friends in the Russian city.

The Labour-run council said it was pausing its twinning links "with a heavy heart" until "such a time" they could resume.

Bishop Cocksworth said he understood the decision, but added: "It says something about the deep disruption, the tearing of bonds, the breaking of relationships that war causes."

He said he hoped others would also stay in touch with people in Volgograd, to support those protesting against the war and to tell Russians what was happening in Ukraine.

And he added he believed the war was most likely to come to an end because of internal pressure within Russia.

The bishop also praised the "instinctive" help the people of Coventry had given to Ukraine.

"The people of Coventry always rise to these challenges and that's partly because we have, even if we might not have experienced it ourselves, we have by being in this city this connection with people who are suffering during war time."