Argentina had a tense relationship with the United Kingdom due to the recently concluded Falklands War. The British government had temporarily prohibited all foreign ships from entering the exclusion zone of the islands in 1986. Argentina organised air and marine patrols, as well as military maneuvers in the Patagonia. However, this was not enough to placate the military hard-liners in Argentina. Alfonsín proposed the postponement the sovereignty discussions, instead negotiating for a "de jure" cease of hostilities, with a reduction in the number of military forces and a normalization of Argentina–United Kingdom relations. The United Kingdom did not trust the proposal, suspecting that it was a cover-up for sovereignty discussions.