WASHINGTON — There seems to be no end to this secretary’s secrecy.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hosted this month’s meeting of the multinational Ukraine Relations Group from his home on Tuesday and skipped a pre-written statement acknowledging his recent health scare, which he scandalously kept from his colleagues at the Pentagon — and his bosses at the House. White – for several days. .
“As you can tell, I’m joining from home today,” Austin was supposed to say at the top of his speech opening a meeting with the UCG, a group of more than 50 countries that consult monthly to discuss how to support Ukraine’s defense needs. “I feel good and look forward to returning to the Pentagon soon. And I thank you for all your kind words.”
Instead, he skipped what would be his first direct admission of his baffling decision not to tell President Biden or his Defense Department colleagues that he was hospitalized on January 1st with complications from a December 22nd prostatectomy.
“We’re looking forward to entering this new year with new energy,” Austin said, skipping ahead in his prepared script. “We are all here to reaffirm our support for a free, secure and sovereign Ukraine and to ensure that we continue to get Ukraine the capabilities it needs for the winter and beyond.”
Austin stunned Washington this month when it was revealed he had not told his deputy, Kathleen Hicks, about his hospitalization when he transferred his secretarial powers to her from the hospital.
The normally stocky, 270-pound secretary also looked thinner in her first public address since she stunned Washington by failing to tell President Biden that she had been taken by ambulance to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Jan. 1.
Austin did not tell his deputy, Kathleen Hicks, about his hospitalization when he transferred his secretarial authority to her from the hospital. It wasn’t until Jan. 4 — three days after he took office — that Hicks, the White House and the rest of the Pentagon knew why he did it.
The Pentagon chief returned to work virtually from Walter Reed on January 5, advising the president on defense matters – including the US-British-led airstrikes on Houthi terrorists in Yemen on January 11 – through much of a two-week hospital stay. .
Ukrainian medics help someone injured in a Russian attack on Kharkiv on Tuesday. Global Image of Ukraine via Getty Images
He was released last Monday and has since been working from home until he is well enough to return to the Pentagon.
Before Austin’s health crisis, Tuesday’s UCG meeting was scheduled to take place in person. Since its inception in May 2022, the group has alternated between face-to-face and virtual meetings each month, though the latter is also held virtually.
Since Austin was unable to travel, arrangements were made to hold the meeting online.
But Tuesday’s virtual session was different as the secretary emerged from her more than $3.5 million home in Virginia.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin appeared virtually at a multinational meeting Tuesday – skipping prepared comments in reference to his recent health issues. AP
As his colleagues — Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander — were summoned from the usual formal arrangement flanked by large Ukrainian and US flags in the Pentagon briefing room, Austin awkwardly emerged from the white room light that looks more like a closet than an office.
The secretary seemed to be trying to make the temporary set look more official, but the effort failed. He sat in front what looks like a large sticker of the Department of Defense seal and two small US and Ukrainian flags propped up on a copier in the corner.
Another thing Austin didn’t mention: the current dispute over whether Congress will pass a supplemental funding bill that would provide Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars more in weapons as Russia’s war against the country approaches its second anniversary next month.
An elderly woman covered in blood is helped after the Russian attack on Kharkiv in Ukraine on Tuesday. Pavlo Pakhomenko/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Instead, he urged other countries to provide more support to Ukraine, as the future of US funding for the effort remains unclear.
“[Russian President Vladimir] Putin hopes the missiles and drones will demoralize the Ukrainian people and break their fighting spirit. the Ukrainian army,” Austin said. “So I urge this group to dig deeper to provide Ukraine with more air defense systems and ground-based interceptors that save lives.”
But if Austin wants to win legislative support for additional US funding, his recent scandals have done little to help that cause.
Both Republicans and Democrats have called for his resignation over the ordeal.
He was invited to testify on the matter before the House Armed Services Committee on Feb. 14.
The Pentagon has not yet said whether the secretary plans to comply with the request and appear for the hearing.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
