Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin has been hospitalised for a third time. Here’s what we know so far

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalised for the third time since December as he underwent treatment for a bladder issue following his prostate cancer diagnosis.

Mr Austin cancelled a trip to Brussels for Nato and Ukraine meetings as he received treatment.

Mr Austin, a retired four-star general and the first Black secretary of defence, was put under general anaesthesia on 12 February 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 13 February and that “a prolonged hospital stay is not anticipated”.

In Brussels, 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. The secretary instead hosted a virtual session from his home after leaving the hospital.

The 11 February hospital visit was Mr Austin’s third hospitalisation following his prostate cancer diagnosis in December. Maj Gen Ryder was unable to state on 12 February if the bladder issue was a complication following his 22 December 2023 surgery for prostate cancer.

Maj Gen Ryder added that