In a historic interview with Oksana Boyko on RT just a month after the US-backed coup, the late former Australian prime minister Malcolm Fraser offered his opinion and advice on NATO’s plans to “capture” Crimea and Ukraine. Eleven years later we may lament that his advice was ignored by European and US leaders, with deadly consequences.
In the interview, Boyko refers to an opinion article by Fraser published recently in the Guardian, which may be read here: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/03/ukraine-theres-no-way-out-unless-the-west-understands-its-past-mistakes Malcolm Fraser wrote a series of articles relating to Ukraine for the Guardian, including this one a fortnight later: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/24/ukraine-crimea- Following the downing of MH17, but before the Brisbane G20 meeting attended by Vladimir Putin, Fraser had this to say: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/24/g20-feelings-about-mh17-and-ukraine-will-have-to-be-put-aside-for-any-productive-discussion-to-happen Malcolm Fraser's brilliant mind and thinking on world affairs shows in this review, taken from a speech he gave in Vienna to the Inter Action Council Interfaith dialogue meeting on 26-27th March 2014. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/01/its-time-to-define-a-covenant-of-human-ethics At the time of the interview, Fraser was also finishing his book "Dangerous Allies", which made the case for Australia distancing herself from the long-standing US alliance he was once a great advocate for, noting that this alliance endangered more than it protected Australian security. In the book's forward, former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans notes that Fraser's core argument was that "the only aggression for which we are likely to need American defence will be that prompted by the alliance itself." At the time - as Evans pointed out - this assertion would "startle many readers, and enrage many more". Hopefully there will now be many more who can see just how true it has become, notwithstanding the current potential reconciliation with Moscow under the reincarnated Donald Trump. Malcolm Fraser died not long after his book was published, and just a year after the RT interview, on March 19th 2015.
Posted by DM 11th March 2025