Argentina warns UK over oil project around Falkland Islands

Argentina will initiate international arbitration against the UK over the Sea Lion oil project around the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), President Javier Milei said Monday.

“I instructed the Foreign Ministry and our legal teams to initiate international arbitration against the United Kingdom for the illegal looting of our resources through the Sea Lion Project in the North Falkland Basin,” he said on the US social media platform X.

Milei also warned that Buenos Aires would take the case to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea if London does not halt the project.

“If in two weeks the United Kingdom does not stop the illegitimate exploitation, we will go to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea,” he added.

He reiterated Argentina's sovereignty claim over the islands, saying “the Falkland Islands are Argentine and they are defended with facts, not words.”