Lloyd Austin cancels trip for Nato and Ukraine meetings as he remains hospitalised

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has cancelled a trip to Brussels for Nato and Ukraine meetings as he remains in hospital for treatment for a bladder issue.

Mr Austin, a retired four-star general and the first Black secretary of the defense, was put under general anaesthesia on Monday for a non-surgical procedure to treat the “emergent bladder issue,” his doctors at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center said in a new statement.

They added that he was set to get back to work on Tuesday and that “a prolonged hospital stay is not anticipated”.

But Mr Austin had to cancel a planned trip to Brussels this week, where he was set to attend a monthly meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which includes the more than 50 countries that are sending military aid to Ukraine to help them push back the Russian invasion. Mr Austin was also scheduled to take part in a separate meeting of Nato defence secretaries in the Belgian capital. Pentagon Press Secretary Maj Gen Pat Ryder noted that the meeting would now be virtual, ABC News noted.

This weekend’s trip to the hospital was Mr Austin’s third hospitalisation following his prostate cancer diagnosis in December. Maj Gen Ryder was unable to state on Monday if the bladder issue was a complication following his 22 December surgery for prostate cancer.

Maj Gen Ryder added that Mr Austin is no longer receiving treatment for his cancer diagnosis apart from physical therapy to deal with leg pain.

Dr John Maddox and Dr Gregory Chesnut at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland just outside Washington, DC, said in a statement on Monday: “We anticipate the Secretary will be able to resume his normal duties tomorrow. The current bladder issue is