Javier Milei has demanded the United Nations help Argentina take the Falkland Islands from Britain, just days after Andy Burnham raised the future of the islands directly with Donald Trump at their first face-to-face meeting.
Addressing the UN General Assembly in New York, the Argentine president told world leaders: “Las Malvinas are a national cause… I repeat, Las Malvinas are a national cause.”
Milei branded the UN “useless” for failing to aid Argentina over what he called the islands dispute, demanded talks with Mr Burnham, and vowed to continue taking legal action against oil firms operating near the Falklands.
A warm meeting with an awkward agenda
The outburst came two days after Burnham and Trump met on the sidelines of the same gathering on Tuesday, in what was the new prime minister’s first in-person encounter with the US president since entering Downing Street in July.
The talks ran past their scheduled half hour, and the tone was cordial. Trump called Burnham a “natural businessperson” and said he thought he would be “a great prime minister”, describing Britain as “a really special country” and telling the PM that Washington was “with you all the way”.
But Burnham used the meeting to press Trump on the Falklands. “The Falklands we mentioned,” the prime minister told reporters afterwards. “And you were good enough to listen to us on those issues.”
Trump made no public response on the archipelago. The silence matters because eleven days earlier, during a trip to Dublin, the president sidestepped a question on whether America would come to Britain’s aid in any future conflict over the islands, and told the BBC that he reviews every position.
Rising pressure on the islands
The two leaders also discussed the Chagos Islands, with Trump repeating his view that the deal to hand sovereignty to Mauritius was “terrible”. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has since confirmed the handover is on hold, telling ministers: “We’re not going to go ahead without the Americans.”
Pressure over the Falklands has been building for weeks. Milei has repeatedly renewed Argentina’s claim this month, and during the summer’s World Cup, Argentina’s players waved a banner after beating England claiming the islands belonged to Buenos Aires. Fifa fined the Argentine FA £237,000 for that incident and a series of other ugly scenes after the tournament, according to The Sun.
Britain and Argentina went to war over the islands in 1982, when a British task force retook them after the Argentine invasion of that April. The islanders themselves have twice voted overwhelmingly to remain British.
Reporting based on MercoPress, The Sun and The Scottish Sun.
