
Buenos Aires: With the issue of the Falkland Islands gaining fresh momentum, Argentine President Javier Milei on Thursday said that his government would take stronger steps against the offshore oil project near the Islands, the New York Times reported.
According to the report, Milei made the remarks in a nationally televised address and described the project by Israeli and British firms as a threat to Argentina’s sovereignty and and also referred to steal natural resources from its people.
According to CNN, Milei said, “The Falkland Islands are Argentinian, historically and legally. There is no debate.”
As per the American broadcaster, Milei described the oilfield project off the coast of the Falklands as a “concrete and urgent danger” that is advancing towards oil extraction without Argentina’s permission.
“If we fail to act, within a few months, they will possess the physical capacity to take the oil reserves that lie beneath our waters,” he said.
The Argentine President warned that the project could “create an incentive for the UK to deepen its occupation” and “continue exploiting our resources.”
Milei also announced an increase of resources for the building of a naval base in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina’s southernmost territory, which he said would strengthen the country’s geopolitical influence and position it as a key logistics hub.
His remarks come after US President Donald Trump suggested that Washington could review its long-held position of maintaining strategic ambiguity on the question of sovereignty of the territory.
CNN in its report noted that while the US has never backed UK sovereignty claims over the area, the recent comments by President Donald Trump have cast doubt on the US position on the issue.
This comes after Trump in an interview to a UK based broadcaster avoided directly answering a question about whether the US would “come to the aid” of Britain in another conflict over the Falklands.