U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin says it is up to the Ukrainian leadership to decide whether to regroup or stay and continue to defend Bakhmut.

"In terms of the significance of Bakhmut, I would say, I would point to the fact that President Zelenskyy is fighting this fight, and he will make the calls on what's important and what's not important to his forces, and whether he needs to reposition or remain in Bakhmut. The point that I would make is if he does make a call to reposition at some point in time, it doesn't mean that the war is lost. It may mean, and probably will mean that he is positioning himself to maintain advantage, and so I think that's the real key there," he said at a press conference after the tenth meeting of Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the Ramstein format on Wednesday, answering a relevant question from journalists.

The chief of the Pentagon "applauded the valor, the persistence that we've seen from the Ukrainian soldiers." "They have done amazing things in Bakhmut. I think the Russians have been working to take Bakhmut for some-seven months or so now, and they haven't been very successful," Austin said.

In this regard, he said allies and partners in the Contact Group "are generating combat power to a degree that we believe that it will provide them opportunities to change the dynamics on the battlefield at some point going forward." "Whatever point that is, whatever – you know, whatever they want to do in the future, I think the – the platforms, the training, the sustainment, the maintenance that we're providing is it will make a significant difference," the chief of the Pentagon said.