Lloyd Austin to virtually join Ukraine meet week after getting discharged from hospital

This will be defence secretary’s first public engagement after hushed up hospital admission on 1 Jan

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin, who is currently recovering from complications from prostate cancer treatment, is set to attend a meeting on Ukraine’s military needs virtually from his house on Tuesday, the Pentagon said.

This will be Mr Lloyd’s first public engagement after his hushed up hospital admission on 1 January after complications, including a urinary tract infection, shocking the White House. The hospital admission also sparked criticism among US lawmakers over failure to inform president Joe Biden.

He was admitted to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Maryland on 22 December to treat prostate cancer.

The secret hospitalisation of the top military official was not revealed until 5 January and the Pentagon did not clarify why Mr Lloyd was being hospitalised until 9 January. He was discharged from the hospital 24 days after his secret surgery, according to the Department of Defence.

In a statement on 15 January, Mr Austin said he will continue to work from home and he’s “eager to fully recover and return as quickly as possible to the Pentagon”.

“I’m grateful for the excellent care I received at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and want to thank the outstanding doctors and nursing staff for their professionalism and superb support,” Mr Austin said. “I also am thankful and appreciative for all the well wishes I received for a speedy recovery.”

Mr Austin’s treatment made headlines after it was revealed neither Mr Biden nor Mr Austin’s deputy secretary Kathleen Hicks knew about the surgery or subsequent intensive care admission until 4 January. Mr Austin also kept his cancer diagnosis a secret from Mr Biden and senior officials until 9 January.

The White House is battling stiff resistance on emergency funding for Ukraine from Republicans in Congress who have used the new security policies along the US-Mexico border as a bargaining chip.

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said that while the US was committed to Ukraine, lawmakers needed to pass more funding for Kyiv as it battles Russian forces.

"It’s not just the United States that has been critical and providing security assistance to Ukraine, our partners, our allies continue to do that, despite the fact that we do not have a supplemental that’s been passed by Congress," Ms Singh told reporters.