Argentina calls for UK talks on Falklands

Argentina wants to engage Britain in talks over a "peaceful solution" to the status of what it calls the Malvinas.

Argentina has called for talks with Britain over the status of the disputed Falkland Islands.

"Argentina underscores its desire for a peaceful solution to the conflict and invites Great Britain to resume talks," the Foreign Ministry in Buenos Aires said to mark 183 years of British control of the islands.

The islands some 400 kilometres off Argentina's coast are known in Argentina as the Malvinas and have been under British control since 1833.

The nations fought a brief war over the islands in 1982 that left some 900 people dead.

Residents voted overwhelmingly in 2013 to remain part of Britain.

The islands have been an ongoing source of tensions and the governments summoned each others ambassadors last year amid allegations London mounted a large-scale spying operation on Buenos Aires to discern its policies toward the islands.