MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

PM Cameron says Obama promised ‘neutrality’ and ‘no prodding’ for talks on the Falklands issue

Obama went out of his way and treated PM Cameron to some of the privileges of a head of state visit

Prime Minister David Cameron revealed President Barack Obama said the US was content with the status quo in the Falkland Islands and ‘would stop prodding Britain and Argentina’ to talk to each other.

PM Cameron said he discussed recent tensions over the Falkland Islands with President Obama during their talks at the White House on Wednesday, according to reports in the US and UK media, among which the Daily Express.

PM Cameron said President Obama made clear that the US was content with the status quo, under which the Falklands remain a British overseas territory.

As he visited the site of Ground Zero in New York, PM Cameron was asked whether he was concerned about Washington's approach to the issue.

He replied: “We discussed the issue briefly yesterday. I wanted to stress how important it is for Britain to set out how clearly we support the right of the Falkland Islanders to determine their own future.

”They want to remain with us and that is very clear”

“The US position is that they support the status quo, they don't argue against the status quo and that is very welcome. They are content with the status quo; they are not challenging the status quo”.

”To me it is very important that we stick up for the right of self-determination. The people who live in the Falkland Islands want to continue with their current status”.

The New York Times reports that on Wednesday President Obama offered ‘some comfort’ to PM Cameron. “The United States, he said, would stop prodding Britain and Argentina to talk to each other over the Falklands and stick to its historic position of neutrality”.

PM Cameron added that on this 30th anniversary year he wants to send “a very clear signal to the rest of the world - Argentina and others - that while the Falkland Islanders want that status, Britain will help them keep that status”.

The US State Department position so far has been that the Falklands dispute is a bilateral issue to be solved directly between Argentina and Britain, “and that is what we are encouraging both sides”.

Last February the State Department spokesperson was questioned about the alleged militarization of the South Atlantic claimed by Argentina and reiterated that “our (Falklands) policy has not changed”.

“I’m in no position to comment what the British are doing or not doing in the oceans….we encourage Argentina and the UK to solve the issue peacefully through negotiations” said spokesperson Victoria Nuland.

“We believe this is a bilateral issue that must be solved directly between Argentina and the UK, and that is what we are encouraging both sides, as we approach the thirtieth anniversary” of the Falklands/Malvinas conflict in which “almost a thousand people were killed”, said Ms Nuland in February.

So if the UK and US media reporting is correct, the Falklands remains a bilateral issue to be solved peacefully by both sides, but according to the NYT “the US will stop prodding Britain and Argentina to talk to each other” and stick to neutrality or status quo.