(CNN) -- The Argentine government continued to sound the alarm Monday about British plans to conduct military exercises on the Falkland Islands. The Argentine ambassador to the United Nations, Jorge Arguello, said Argentina plans to alert U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the British military exercises, which Argentine President Cristina Kirchner has condemned as "grave, very grave." The ambassador said the Argentine mission also planned to ask Ban for U.N. help in negotiations between Argentina and the United Kingdom. The British Foreign Office, meanwhile, downplayed the exercises. "These are routine military tests that have taken place every six months for the past 28 years, most recently in April this year," an office spokesman said. "Shipping alerts are always issued in advance and the tests take place entirely within Falklands territorial waters."
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President Cristina Kirchner calls plans by UK military "grave, very grave"
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The Falklands are a disputed island chain off Argentina's coast
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They have been under British rule since 1833
Britain keeps a military presence on the islands, and the @placeholder government -- representing a population of about 2,500 -- says it remains committed to British sovereignty.