Falklands dispute back on the radar

Argentine President Javier Milei escalated his country's dispute with Britain over the Falkland Islands on Thursday, praising US President Donald Trump for saying Washington could reconsider its neutral stance on the islands' sovereignty and vowing new measures to halt an oil project near the British-controlled archipelago.

Milei seized on Trump's comments that Washington could review its position on the islands, casting the potential shift as proof that his close relationship with the US president - often criticized by political opponents - was paying dividends.

"The United States is considering this change in position because it knows that Argentina has a reliable partner, aligned with Western values, in a strategically important position that can be a valuable ally in the decades to come," Milei said in a nationally televised speech.

The libertarian Argentine leader then announced actions aimed at stopping the development of the Sea Lion oil project, about 220 kilometers (140 miles) north of the islands, where British company Rockhopper Exploration and Israel's Navitas Petroleum plan to begin drilling in the coming months and start producing oil in 2028.

Argentina considers the project an illegal exploitation of resources in waters it claims as its own.

He threatened tougher sanctions against companies involved in the offshore drilling and announced new funding for a naval base in Argentina's southernmost province of Tierra del Fuego to bolster the country's military presence near the islands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas.