The oil giant held the shareholding in the Russian company since 2013.

BP chief executive Bernard Looney has resigned “with immediate effect” from the Rosneft board, as has fellow BP-nominated director Bob Dudley.

Mr Looney had been on the Rosneft board since 2020, alongside its chairman Igor Sechin, who is a close friend and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

BP chairman Helge Lund said that, while BP had operated in Russia for more than 30 years and had “brilliant Russian colleagues,” Russia’s attack on Ukraine was “having tragic consequences across the region” and represented a fundamental change.

“It has led the BP board to conclude, after a thorough process, that our involvement with Rosneft, a state-owned enterprise, simply cannot continue.”

armradio.am