Putin Signs Military Pact With Argentina: Falklands Dispute May Get Ugly

   With Argentina seeking Russia's military cooperation, the Falklands dispute with the U.K is set to get more complex. Recently, Argentina’s president Cristina Fernandez and Russian president Valdimir Putin met in Moscow and signed 20 bilateral cooperation agreements related to different fields, including defence, while calling the bilateral ties as “strategic.”

   Throwing an indirect challenge to the U.K, Russian president Putin announced that the two countries would be increasing “military collaboration.” The newly signed agreement on military cooperation and data protection speaks about expanding “practical cooperation."

Russia’s Support Hailed

   Ms Fernandez, on her part, thanked Russian president for his support to her country’s dispute with the U.K. over Falkland islands, in which both sides have been adamant on their respective claims. The Argentinian president said: “We thank Russia for the support it has historically provided in Malvinas question, in having resolutions of the United Nations observed so the United Kingdom resolves to sit in the table to dialogue."

   The Russian president said, “Russia supports Argentina's striving for direct talks with Britain to achieve prompt resolution to the Malvinas Islands dispute.” However, Britain’s Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has asserted its intent to safeguard the security of the island’s residents.

Common Interest

   Besides Falklands, Argentina and Russia have a broader agenda to work on, argued ex Russian diplomat Evgeny Astakhov. He added that a strong cooperation between Russia and Argentina can pursue other major goals such as changing the global financial situation and reducing the dominance of U.S. dollar, by doing their bilateral trade in the local currencies--Peso and Rouble.

   According to the diplomat, the new cooperation agreements between Argentina and Russia could be the former’s response to the situation in Falkland Islands. He told the Sputnik News that the West has traditionally supported the United Kingdom in the dispute. At the same time, the former ambassador cautioned that a conflict with the United States will not be in the interests of Argentina. He said, Argentina as an independent and economically self-sufficient country with abundant reserves of oil and gas is of interest to Russia.