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Washington refused to endorse British claims to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands yesterday as the diplomatic row over oil drilling in the South Atlantic intensified in London, Buenos Aires and at the UN.

Despite Britain’s close alliance with the US, the Obama Administration is determined not to be drawn into the issue. It has also declined to back
Britain’s claim that oil exploration near the islands is sanctioned by
international law, saying that the dispute is strictly a bilateral issue.

Argentina appealed to the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon, last night to intervene in the dispute, a move Britain adamantly opposes.

“The Secretary-General knows about the issue. He is not happy to learn that the situation is worsening,” Jorge Taiana, the Argentine Foreign Minister,
said after meeting Mr Ban in New York.

“We have asked the Secretary-General, within the framework of his good offices, to stress to Britain the need to abstain from further unilateral
acts.”

A top UN aide acknowledged, however, that Mr Ban would not be able to mediate because of Britain’s opposition.

Sir Mark Lyall Grant, Britain’s Ambassador to the UN, said: “As British ministers have made clear, the UK has no doubt about its sovereignty over
the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands . . . We are
also clear that the Falkland Islands Government is entitled to develop a
hydrocarbons industry within its waters, and we support this legitimate
business in Falklands’ territory.”

Senior US officials insisted that Washington’s position on the Falklands was one of longstanding neutrality. This is in stark contrast to the public
backing and vital intelligence offered by President Reagan to Margaret
Thatcher once she had made the decision to recover the islands by force in
1982.

“We are aware not only of the current situation but also of the history, but our position remains one of neutrality,” a State Department spokesman told
The Times. “The US recognises de facto UK administration of the islands but
takes no position on the sovereignty claims of either party.”

Kevin Casas-Zamora, a Brookings Institution analyst and former vice-president of Costa Rica, said that President Reagan’s support for Britain in 1982
“irked a lot of people in Latin America”.

The Obama Administration “is trying to split the difference as much as it can because it knows that coming round to the British position would again
create a lot of ill will in the region”, he said.

British officials in Washington said that they were comfortable with the US response to the dispute, but indicated that any American support for
mediated negotiations would not be well received. It was “up to the
islanders whether they want mediation or not”, one official said.

Britain has boosted the islands’ defences since the conflict, Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, the First Sea Lord, said last night. “We have built a massive
runway. We have emplaced forces on the ground, we have sophisticated early
warning systems. It is a different package. To compare the way we dealt with
the issues in 1982 with today is nonsense,” he said.