BUENOS AIRES, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Argentina will appeal the ruling of a court in New York that ordered the South American country to transfer 51 percent of the shares of the national oil and gas company YPF, said President Javier Milei Monday.

"We have just learned that Judge (Loretta) Preska ruled against the Argentine State in the case of the expropriation of YPF ... All Argentines know that we are going to appeal this ruling in all the appropriate instances to defend the national interests," Milei said on the social platform X.

The U.S. district judge agreed earlier Monday to the request of the plaintiffs to seize YPF shares, after a 2023 ruling that ordered cash-strapped Argentina to pay them about 16.1 billion U.S. dollars.

According to the Monday ruling, the shares must be deposited into a custody account at Bank of New York Mellon within 14 days, and then transferred to the plaintiffs or their representatives within one business day after deposit. Enditem