Milei Vows Sanctions on Falklands Oil Drilling

Argentine President Javier Milei says he will impose economic sanctions on oil companies that drill off the Falkland Islands, escalating his country's long-running sovereignty fight with Britain.

In a national address delivered Thursday alongside his cabinet at the presidential palace, Milei called the Sea Lion offshore project a "clear and present danger" to Argentina and said the islands are "historically and legally" Argentine.

He said the "winds of change in the world" now favor Argentina's claim — an apparent reference to signals that the United States may reconsider its long-standing neutrality on the dispute.

What Milei Announced

Milei said he will send Congress an urgent "national sovereignty defence" bill to penalize energy firms conducting what he called unauthorized operations around the islands. According to The Independent, the penalties would reach beyond the companies themselves to their shareholders, directors and suppliers.

He also announced plans for a naval base in Tierra del Fuego, the Argentine province closest to the archipelago.

Argentine law already allows restrictions on oil companies taking part in projects it considers unauthorized on the islands, the BBC reported. It is not yet clear how far the new sanctions would go.

The target is the Sea Lion field, roughly 130 miles from the islands, which holds an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil. It is operated by Britain's Rockhopper Exploration and Israel's Navitas Petroleum, which are due to begin exploration work within two years.

"If we do not act swiftly, in a few months they will have the material capacity to access the oil that lies underneath our sea — something that has never happened before," Milei said.

The American Angle

Milei said Trump and the United States were "assessing their historical position in regard to the Falklands," which Argentina calls Las Malvinas.

"That is not empty words as they understand that Argentina is a reliable partner and a valuable ally for decades to come," he said, describing the United Kingdom as a nation "in decline."

Hours before the speech, Sarah Rogers, a senior official at the US State Department, posted a photo of herself with Milei captioned: "Exciting things are happening in the Western Hemisphere," per the BBC.

Earlier Thursday, President Trump was asked by GB News whether the US would come to Britain's aid in a territorial dispute over the islands. He answered that Britain had not helped him during the US conflict with Iran: "Your country was not there to help me." Trump has previously said the US could revise its neutral position on the islands' sovereignty if the UK did not increase defense spending.