US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has canceled his participation in important meetings on Ukraine and NATO due to health problems. Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder announced on Monday that he would not travel to Brussels this week as planned.
A meeting of the international contact group to coordinate arms aid for Ukraine on Wednesday will now take place virtually. The politician, who was suffering from prostate cancer, was admitted to hospital on Sunday with an acute bladder problem. The 70-year-old defense minister made his illness public in mid-January.