BP PLC (BP.LN) and its partners in the Russian joint venture TNK-BP Ltd. are meeting Thursday and Friday in Cyprus for a scheduled board meeting, their first since BP's multi-billion pact with Rosneft (ROSN.RS) elapsed, a BP spokesman confirmed Thursday.

The spokesman said he wasn't able to disclose the agenda, nor what subjects were likely to come up for discussion, save to say that it was a routine board meeting that had been planned long in advance.

BP and its partners in TNK-BP--the Alfa Access Renova Group, or AAR --have been locked in intense negotiations in recent weeks ahead of the expiration of a May 16 deadline for BP to conclude a $16 billion share swap and Arctic exploration deal with Russian state-owned firm Rosneft.

BP had been trying to overcome AAR 's objections to its Rosneft partnership, which was blocked by an international arbitration panel following protests by AAR that it broke the TNK-BP shareholder agreement, specifically that the joint venture would be BP's primary investment vehicle in Russia .

Following the expiration of the deal on Monday, BP and AAR put out a joint statement saying they would "intensify their efforts to ensure TNK-BP's continued success following the lapse of the BP-Rosneft share swap transaction."

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