BP said it would sell 20% of its stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft due to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia’s attack on Ukraine is an act of aggression with tragic consequences throughout the region. BP has worked in Russia for more than 30 years, working with brilliant Russian colleagues. However, this military action represented a fundamental change. “This has led the BP Board of Directors to conclude, after a thorough process, that our engagement with Rosneft, a state-owned enterprise, simply cannot continue,” BP President Helge Lund said in a statement on Sunday.

The announcement marks the end of one of the Western world’s largest investments ever in Russia, which is seen as so politically significant that Russian President Vladimir Putin and then British Prime Minister Tony Blair Personally attended the signing ceremony for a major part of the deal in 2003.

The largest computer chip companies in the world They started stopping sales to Russia of vital electronic components, to comply with US-led sanctions. The European Union bans Russian flights from its airspace.

BP’s 19.75 percent stake in Rosneft accounted for more than half of the British company’s oil reserves.

The investment has always been politically tense, given Rosneft’s ties to the Kremlin. The oil giant is headed by Igor Sechin, a former Russian deputy prime minister and Putin ally. United State Rosneft and Sechin were sanctioned in 2014After the first Russian invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea.

It is unclear whether BP will find a buyer for its shares or simply walk away. But the company is already wiping Rosneft off its books, saying it will no longer recognize a share of Rosneft’s net income, production or reserves.

“The unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine should serve as a wake-up call for British companies with commercial interests in Putin’s Russia,” said Foreign Minister Kwasi Quarting.

On Friday, after Russia began its invasion, Kwarteng summoned BP CEO Looney to a meeting to express his concern about Rosneft’s contract, financial times Other media reported.

A BP spokeswoman confirmed the meeting but said she could not comment on what was discussed.

BP began building its stake in the company and its predecessors in 1997 and has invested many billions in the organization over the years.

Looney said in a statement that he was “deeply shocked and saddened by the unfolding situation in Ukraine.”

It prompted us to fundamentally rethink BP’s position with Rosneft. I am convinced that the decisions we have made as a board of directors are not only the right thing to do, but are also in BP’s long-term interest.”

Dudley, who is American Was responsible for BP’s clean-up efforts after The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico then became the company’s CEO, could not be immediately reached for comment. Rosneft could also not be immediately reached for comment.