Argentina launches bid to join forces with NATO: Chainsaw-wielding President Milei continues his pivot towards the West - but remains defiant over the Falkland Islands

Argentina has formally requested to join NATO as a 'global partner', a status that would facilitate greater political and security cooperation as President Javier Milei eyes stronger ties with the West.

Firebrand Milei has been accused of playing 'two different games', as the famously unpredictable leader recently vowed to establish a diplomatic 'roadmap' towards the UK handing over the Falkland Islands.

The contentious issue came up during a meeting between Milei and UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron in January, during which the pair said 'they would agree to disagree, and do so politely', according to the Foreign Office.

As the Argentine government bids to improve relations with the US and its allies, it announced on Tuesday that it was purchasing 24 US-made F-16 fighter jets from Denmark, a deal backed by Washington.

Today, Argentine Defence Minister Luis Alfonso Petri met with the Deputy Secretary General of NATO Mircea Geoana to submit the country's formal request to join the security alliance's list of 'partners across the globe'. 

President Javier Milei met with UK Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron at the World Economic Forum in Davos back in January

German and British servicemen transfer tanks and armored vehicles via Vistula river during NATO's Dragon-24 exercise, a part of large scale Steadfast Defender-24 exercise

The famously unpredictable leader recently vowed to establish a diplomatic 'roadmap' towards the UK handing over the territory. He is pictured brandishing a chainsaw on the campaign trail for the presidency in September

Geoana said he welcomed Argentina's bid to become an accredited partner in the alliance - a valued role short of 'ally' for nations not in Nato's geographical area and not required to participate in collective military actions.

NATO membership is currently limited to European countries, Turkey, Canada, and the United States. Formally partnering with Nato requires the consensus of all 32 Nato members.

The designation could allow Argentina access to advanced technology, security systems, and training that was not previously available to it, the Argentine presidency said.

'Argentina plays an important role in Latin America,' Geoana said at the NATO headquarters. 'Closer political and practical cooperation could benefit us both.'

According to NATO, global partners cooperate with alliance members, for example through intelligence sharing and participating in military operations.

NATO's current global partners include Australia, Iraq, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand and Pakistan. As it stands, Colombia is the only South American country to partner with NATO.

It comes as NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned on Thursday that Ukraine had an 'urgent, critical need for more air defence', as he attended a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy.

While NATO allies had made 'encouraging' recent commitments on military support, he said: 'We should have given them more earlier.'

Argentine Defence Minister Luis Alfonso Petri met with the Deputy Secretary General of NATO

'Ninety-nine percent of the military support for Ukraine comes from Nato Allies, and it is of vital importance that NATO Allies sustain and step up their support,' added the Secretary General. 

Meeting with NATO officials, Petri is said to have discussed Argentina's continued support to Ukraine. President Zelensky is a supporter of Milei's, and attended his inauguration in December and hailing it 'a new beginning for Argentina'.

Milei has been pushing a radical libertarian agenda aimed at reversing years of protectionist trade measures, overspending and crippling international debt that has plunged the country's economy into a tailspin.

Over his past four months as president, he has reshaped Argentina's foreign policy to almost unconditional support for the US.

President Zelensky attended Milei's inauguration in December and hailed it 'a new beginning for Argentina'

This is part of an effort to return Argentina to prominence in the global economy after past administrations allowed relations with Washington and European allies to wither.

Milei's government also seeks security benefits through warming ties with Western countries.

Argentina's ties to key NATO ally Britain have been fraught since the 1982 Falklands war, and Milei's rhetoric over the contested islands has remained forceful throughout his presidency.

Speaking at a recent ceremony to mark the 42nd anniversary of the start of the conflict between Argentina and the UK, he told the audience: 'I want to reiterate our unwavering claim for the islands.'

Ian Shields OBE, a retired RAF officer who served in the war and is now an academic, told Express.co.uk that ramping up emotions over the Falklands 'plays well with a nationalist, right-wing agenda, and also distracts the people from domestic economic issues.'

Perhaps surprisingly, Milei is a self-confessed Anglophile, admitting in the past that he is a fan of Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill.

He previously said that when he criticised the Argentine military junta's 1982 invasion of the islands as an 11-year-old, his father thrashed him for being unpatriotic. 

However, during his presidential campaign, Milei insisted that Britain returning the Falkland Islands was 'non-negotiable', adding that the territory, known as the Malvinas in Argentina, is Argentine.

Milei has said the islanders must have a say in their future. Pictured: Farm buildings at Carcass Island Settlement in the Falkland Islands

He stopped short of saying he would go to war over them, instead comparing it to the UK returning Hong Kong to China, and has repeatedly said that the islanders must have a say in their future.

The Falklands were the subject of a short but brutal war after Argentina invaded in 1982, claiming the lives of 649 Argentines and 255 British soldiers.

Britain repelled the invaders after dispatching a naval armada, but the issue has never been considered settled in Buenos Aires.

Argentina still claims the islands while Britain says the Falklands are a self-governing entity under its protection. A 2013 referendum there resulted in a 99.8 per cent vote to remain British.