FOREIGN Secretary Lord David Cameron will meet Argentina’s new president Javier Milei today for their first summit.
It comes after the newly-elected leader insisted he believed the Falkland Islands, a self-governing overseas British territory, belong to Argentina.
PADavid Cameron will meet Argentina’s new president Javier Milei today[/caption]
APJavier Milei was elected president in December 2023[/caption]
Argentina’s foreign minister Diana Mondino is also set to join the pair for their encounter at the Davos summit in Switzerland.
An Argentinian presidential spokesman confirmed today the meeting would take place.
It was initially thought to have been scheduled only between Lord Cameron and Milei.
It is not yet clear whether the Falkland Islands will be on the agenda.
Argentina’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement following Milei’s landslide victory in the nation’s presidential run-off in November that its claim to the islands constituted a “permanent and unwaverable objective.”
As the country’s president-elect Milei insisted he believed the Falkland Islands belonged to Argentina, but said the islanders must have a say in their future.
PM Rishi Sunak responded by saying through a spokesman: “It’s obviously a settled issue, a long-settled issue, and we have no plans to revisit it.”
And Defence Secretary Grant Shapps went on to rebuke any notion of negotiations with Argentina by saying: “The Falkland Islands are British.
“That is non-negotiable and undeniable.”
Argentinian daily, Clarin, claimed today Lord Cameron asked Milei for a meeting in a WhatsApp he sent him as he was on his way to Davos.
Rival paper La Nacion said the issue of the Falklands, which in Argentina are known as the Malvinas, would be “on the table” along with the economy.
Downing Street confirmed late last week Rishi Sunak would not be attending the World Economic Forum in Davos for the second year in a row.
Lord Cameron met former Argentinian president Mauricio Macri at the summit in 2016 when he was still Prime Minister.
It comes as Downing street insisted the Falkland Islands will remain British despite new Argentine president’s threats.
Radical Milei vowed to “get the Falklands back” during the election campaign.
And a former Royal Navy chief warned threats of a new Falklands war shouldn’t be ignored.
Lord Admiral West, 75, believes there is no concern of an Argentine military invasion on the Falkland Islands but warned “stranger things have happened”.
PACameron reportedly asked Milei for the meeting in a WhatsApp message[/caption]
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