The same meeting, two different objectives. These words summarize the bilateral meeting held between Argentine President Alberto Fernández and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday. A conversation that began in a pleasant tone and in which the tension gained ground as the minutes progressed.

At the meeting, in which both leaders participated and which took place in the castle of Elmau in Germany within the framework of the G7 -which took place at the initiative of Johnson-, the intention of the British Prime Minister was clearly limited to establishing priorities and scenarios linked the role of the two countries in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. With this goal in mind, Johnson did not hesitate to ask the Argentine president that his country has, in this scenario, the possibility of exporting proteins and wheat.

For this reason, he proposed the alternative of the South American country selling grain to Great Britain, given the international food crisis generated by the war. However, he was met with an unexpected response.

Faced with the prime minister's economic suggestion, Alberto Fernández's response – who clearly diverted the subject of the meeting in another direction, taking advantage of the occasion – was forceful. "It's true, but we have a problem. Until we solve it, we will not be able to advance anything. And it is the Malvinas issue », he answered.

Immediately afterwards, the Argentine president insisted on his claim to Johnson, saying: "We need Great Britain to sit down to negotiate." Next, his interlocutor did not hesitate to try to close the matter to return to his original approach. "That is an issue resolved 40 years ago," the British prime minister said in a firm tone.

Despite Johnson's refusal to resume the debate, the Argentine president insisted on the same point, pointing out that "what happened 40 years ago was a war." And he continued: "Now, every year, the United Nations says that we have to sit down to negotiate." But the prime minister remained unmoved: "That is a problem for us, we are not going to negotiate."

The discussion between the Argentine president and the British prime minister reached its peak when Fernández pointed out that the Malvinas issue could affect the development of relations between the two countries: "If we do not resolve this issue, our entire relationship will be stuck and the rest of the issues are not going to be resolved ».