TotalEnergies said it will stop buying Russian oil and petroleum products by the end of the year after being accused of "complicity in war crimes" following the invasion of Ukraine.
But the French energy giant failed to announce a full exit from the increasingly isolated country, warning instead of potential negative consequences from a headlong retreat from Russia.
It will not pull out of minority interests it holds in the country, saying "abandoning these interests without consideration would enrich Russian investors, in contradiction with the sanctions' purpose".
"In addition, abandoning these minority interests held by TotalEnergies would have no impact on the companies' operations and revenues, since these companies have their own employees and are managed autonomously."
Total committed to adhering to current and future European sanctions, no matter what the impact on the management of its assets in Russia might be.
In 2020, 17% of the company's oil and gas production came from Russia.
TotalEnergies holds a 19.4% stake in Russia's natural gas producer Novatek, and is a minority shareholder in a number of non-state-owned Russian companies like Yamal LNG (20%), Arctic LNG 2 (10%) that's still under construction, and TerNefteGaz (49%)
The French conglomerate, which reported revenue of US$90bn and profits of close to US$16bn last year, said it would stop further investments in the Arctic LNG 2 project.
Total says it will continue to supply Europe with natural gas from the Yamal LNG plant "as long as Europe's governments consider Russian gas necessary."
As opposed to oil, the company said: "It is apparent that Europe's gas logistics capabilities make it difficult to refrain from importing Russian gas for the next two to three years without impacting the continent's energy supply."