Milei rules out force over Falklands as oil row with Britain escalates

Javier Milei has ruled out using force to recover the Falkland Islands (also known as Malvinas), pledging to pursue Argentina’s sovereignty claim through diplomacy even as Buenos Aires steps up a legal and economic offensive against British-backed oil development in the South Atlantic.

“We do not believe in military solutions,” the Argentine president told The Telegraph. “We are going to get the Falklands back by diplomatic means. The Falklands are Argentinian, legally, historically and geographically.”

The comments are the first time Milei has explicitly excluded military action since Donald Trump cast doubt on Washington’s support for London. The US president said last month that Britain might not be “willing to travel that far” to defend the islands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas, and suggested he could “settle” any conflict. Trump has also criticised the UK’s stance on the Iran war. Washington is formally neutral on sovereignty but backed Britain when Argentina invaded the archipelago in 1982.

Milei’s measured tone contrasts with his address to the UN General Assembly in New York last month, when he described the islands as under “illegal foreign occupation” and warned that Argentina could “take matters into our own hands”. He also rejected the argument that the islanders’ right to self-determination settled the dispute. In a 2013 referendum, 99.8% of voters on the islands backed remaining a British overseas territory.

The rhetoric has been matched by action. Buenos Aires has imposed sanctions on companies and individuals involved in oil exploration around the islands and filed criminal complaints against Israel’s Navitas Petroleum and its British partner Rockhopper Exploration, which are developing the Sea Lion field in the North Falkland Basin.

Sea Lion has become the focal point of the row. The field, estimated to hold up to 1.7bn barrels, received the approval of Ed Miliband, the UK foreign secretary, on October 13, clearing the way for development drilling early next year and first oil in 2028. Navitas, which operates the project with a 65% stake, has already been forced to replace two contractors, while US oilfield services group Halliburton has ruled out working on it.

Argentina has also taken the fight to international forums. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea will hold hearings in Hamburg on November 10 and 11 on Buenos Aires’ request for provisional measures to halt production. Argentina has also sought Interpol red notices against individuals linked to the project. London has urged Interpol to reject the requests as politically motivated and plans legislation to shield British companies from Argentine sanctions before the end of the year.

At home, however, Milei’s hardening stance on the long-running dispute has met resistance. His National Sovereignty Defence bill, which would raise prison terms for unauthorised resource extraction to up to 20 years and expand the state’s role in protecting critical infrastructure, failed to clear committee in the Chamber of Deputies this month after opposition lawmakers objected to its security and intelligence provisions. Milei, whose government now has a disapproval rating of 60% ahead of next year’s presidential election, has rejected suggestions that his Falklands push is electorally motivated.

Andy Burnham, the UK prime minister, has reaffirmed Britain’s commitment to the islands, citing the residents’ stated wish to remain British, and has said London will do “whatever it takes” to uphold their position. He told parliament he had raised the issue with Trump at their first meeting, and his government has opened an investigation into reports of harassment of Falkland Islanders linked to Argentina.

Britain won the 1982 war under then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher, a defeat that hastened the collapse of Argentina’s military dictatorship. The 74-day conflict killed 255 British military personnel, 649 Argentine servicemen and three islanders.