A pledge made in front of the UK ambassador

Argentina's foreign minister Pablo Quirno pledged that his government would stop the Falkland Islands' offshore oil exploitation as part of a bid for sovereignty, addressing an audience that included the UK's ambassador to Argentina, David Cairns. He was speaking at a thinktank event in the Argentinian capital, organised by the Argentine Council for International Relations. Cairns was photographed listening to Quirno and left the venue soon after the minister sat down again.

Quirno told the audience that stopping the exploitation of Argentina's resources from consolidating the British occupation formed part of the plan.

He said the president, Javier Milei, has a strategy for the peaceful assertion of Argentinian sovereignty, one that aims to recover its full exercise through peaceful means. Quirno accused the British government of refusing to negotiate over the sovereignty dispute and of taking unilateral measures on natural-resource exploitation in the disputed maritime areas, while enabling a major offshore oil project in the islands' waters.

Milei's UN speech and the arbitration threat

The pledge follows Milei's address to the UN general assembly in New York last month, where he said the international organisation had failed his country. At the assembly, Milei condemned the Sea Lion project, an oil development in the North Falkland Basin, as an "unlawful act". Argentina accuses the UK of flouting a 1976 UN resolution ordering both parties to desist from unilateral action on the islands.

• •On 28 September, Milei gave the UK a two-week deadline to stop the oil project.
• •If the project did not stop, the UK would face arbitration and a binding decision under annex VII of the UN convention on the law of the sea at the international tribunal for the law of the sea.

Warnings to third parties

In a statement issued last week, the Argentinian government rejected what it called the UK's manipulation of the principle of self-determination of peoples. On Monday night, Quirno warned third parties that they should not assist Falkland islanders in the exploitation of the natural resources. His remarks came as a new shipping link between Chile and the Falkland Islands is due to open by the end of the year.

• •Quirno said whoever contributes, directly or indirectly, to the illegitimate exploration or exploitation of resources that belong to all Argentinians would face consequences.
• •Such contributors, he said, will hardly be able to aspire to a share in the benefits of Argentina's growth.

The dispute at a glance

The UN does not officially recognise British or Argentine sovereignty over the archipelago, known as Las Malvinas in Argentina, which is home to approximately 3,600 people. The UN holds that the islands' status remains a disputed matter that must be resolved through bilateral negotiations, and it has repeatedly invited both governments to find a peaceful solution.

• •The dispute erupted into conflict in 1982 after an invasion by Argentinian forces; the 74-day war ended with the surrender of the Argentine forces.
• •It cost the lives of 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel and three Falkland islanders.
• •The UK government has said the islands will remain a British overseas territory for as long as it is the wish of those who live there.
• •In a referendum in 2013, on a turnout of 92%, 99.8% voted to remain a British territory, with only three votes against.

Absent a halt to the Sea Lion project, the UK faces arbitration and a binding decision under annex VII of the UN convention on the law of the sea at the international tribunal for the law of the sea.