THE long-running saga of BP's troubled Russian joint venture moved closer to a conclusion last night as it held talks on a deal with state-owned oil giant Rosneft.
Igor Sechin, chief executive of Rosneft, flew in to London for discussions on buying out BP's 50 per cent stake in TNK-BP in a deal that could be worth as much as £17.5billion for the FTSE 100 group.

In what insiders described as "a fast-moving situation" and "a game of brinkmanship" Rosneft also looked poised to buy the remaining stake held by BP's partner, the AAR consortium controlled by a group of Russian billionaires.

After years of friction between the two sides, both BP and AAR this year signalled they could sell out of the partnership or seek full control.