Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott says some parts of the GOP have ‘Putin Fascination Syndrome’ and their claim that the US needs to abandon Ukraine in order to focus on China is unconvincing.
House Republicans have frustrated new military aid for Ukraine, which President Joe Biden directly attributed to this month’s fall of the city of Adviika – Russia’s biggest military gain since the capture of Bakhmut in May last year, in the otherwise frozen conflict.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he needed the funding within a month, at a marathon press conference held to mark two years since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Putting Ukraine’s war dead at 31,000 for the first time, Zelensky warned millions would be killed if Congress did not approve further military spending.
Abbott is a warrior for conservative causes who served as prime minister of Australia between 2013 and 2015, when Russia downed Flight MH17, leading to his infamous threat to ‘shirtfront’ Mr Putin.
He has since been lobbying his right-wing counterparts in the United States, who say Ukraine aid should end, to continue sending Kyiv weapons, to stop Putin’s imperialist march across Eastern Europe.
In my exclusive interview for The Spectator Australia on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi, India, where he was a speaker, Abbott told me that the stance taken by some Republicans when it came to Putin was mystifying and unconvincing.
‘There are many slightly baffling things about the modern world, on the left for instance, we’ve long had this Trump Derangement Syndrome, on the right it seems that, at least in some quarters, we have a Putin Fascination Syndrome,’ Abbott says.
The Republicans’ brinkmanship has intensified as Donald Trump has solidified his grip on the primary in the lead-up to the formal nomination and presidential election set for November, with polls showing Trump could beat Biden and reclaim the White House.
The former president shocked Europe when he renewed his threats to withdraw the United States from Nato and appeared to encourage Russian President Vladimir Putin to attack any European country that wasn’t meeting its spending obligations.
Trump has expressed admiration for Putin and has not condemned the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny who was killed in a remote prison colony ahead of this year’s Russian election.
Navalny’s team said he was murdered in prison because he was about to be released in a prisoner swap negotiated by the oligarch Roman Abramovich.
Abbott points to the ‘brutal murder’ of Navalny as yet another reason to back Kyiv and said Republicans who backed Putin were wrong to think the Russian leader was in any way a political bedfellow.
‘Because Putin is in favour of Orthodox Christianity, at least politically he is in favour of Orthodox Christianity, because he is against the things that the woke world normally supports, some conservatives think he is somehow one of them,’ Abbott says.
‘Well look, no true conservative murders his political opponents, no true conservative invades neighbouring countries, no true conservative acts the way Putin has routinely acted for twenty-odd years now.’
‘Putin is pretty close to evil.’
Many Republicans who are in favour of ending support for Ukraine argue that it would free up US resources and attention to be spent on challenging China in the Indo-Pacific instead.
‘Well this is one of the things that I find mystifying about that species of American conservative who says we shouldn’t support Ukraine because the main game is China,’ Abbott says.
‘Because the same instinct that has them abandon Ukraine will have them shortly abandon Taiwan too, so I find this “forget Ukraine because China’s the main game argument” completely unconvincing.’
Abbott made headlines in the US late last year when he publicly urged House Speaker Mike Johnson not to let Christmas pass without approving new military funding for Ukraine.
Johnson did not take Abbott’s advice, calling a recess until 28 February and putting new support for Ukraine on ice.
‘We all must remain hopeful that the congressional Republicans will see sense and will provide Ukraine with the weaponry they so desperately need in order to be competitive against the Russian steamroller,’ he said.
‘My understanding is that some Republicans in Congress would rather avoid any cooperation with the Democrats on anything right now, in order to maximise the difficulties of the Democrat candidate, whoever that might be, vis a vis the Republican candidate, whoever that might be come November. It’s really a pity for the whole world because sometimes you’ve got to rise above petty partisanship and see the bigger picture,’Abbott points out.
Abbott said his advocacy for more bipartisanship was not inconsistent with his own approach to politics in which he was a pugilist on major domestic issues, leading to his eventual victory in 2013.
‘I absolutely believe in being a clear alternate to the other side but some things are far too important to play party politics on and on matters of great national moment it’s always better to get some advance than no advance,’ he said.
Abbott says he hopes the United States remains fully engaged and completely committed to the world on the big geopolitical questions, whoever is in power after the November election.
‘It’s hard for me to imagine a United States that is not the friend of freedom,’ he admits.
‘It’s hard for me to imagine the United States that doesn’t, in the marrow of its bones, want to help small countries being bullied by big one. I just can’t imagine an America that so turns its back on what has been its great heroic achievement, [the post-war world].’
Abbott’s term in office has been chronicled by the ABC in the Nemesis documentary. Former prime ministers Scott Morrison and Malcolm Abbott have played starring roles.
But Abbott and his former chief of staff Peta Credlin were notable absentees.
When I ask him why he refused to be interviewed for the program, Abbott says he made the decision long ago, while watching the ABC’s The Killing Season hosted by Sarah Ferguson, which charted the Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard leadership wars.
‘I just thought that the televised confessional is not a great thing, I mean going to confession is embarrassing enough, going to confession in front of a million people is excruciating,’ laughs Abbott, who once trained for the priesthood.
When I ask if he has watched the program, he says, ‘Look what goes on between me and the television set stays between me and the television set.
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Latika M. Bourke is a journalist and author based in London with more than twenty years of experience covering Australian politics, British politics and international affairs. She writes at www.latikambourke.com and can be found on social media at @latikambourke.
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