"I think it is more of a symbolic value than it is strategic and operational value," said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during a visit to Jordan, APA reports citing VOA News.
According to him, if Russian troops managed to seize control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, that would not represent a decisive shift in the conflict.
Bakhmut has been the site o intense fighting with Russia pushing to take control of the area in Ukraine’s Donetsk province.