French oil company TotalEnergies said Wednesday at an investor presentation in New York that it will not invest in new projects in Russia and will phase out purchases of Russian oil by the end of 2022.

The group, however, intends to increase investments and liquefied natural gas production by setting a series of strategy and business goals for a possible future without Russia - while still not cutting ties.

"There is no future with Russia in this presentation," said CEO Patrick Pouyanne. "Less Russia, more US," he added during the presentation to investors, quoted by Reuters.

And more! As Europe struggles to find alternatives to Russian gas, TotalEnergies said it would increase LNG sales by 3% a year through 2027 and increase LNG production by 40% from 2021 to 2030.

The group announced over the weekend a major investment in an LNG facility in Qatar as it seeks to diversify away from Russia - a major LNG exporter.

Capital expenditures will be increased to US$ 14-18 billion per year by 2025, from US$ 13-16 billion previously, with investments targeted at wind and solar power, energy savings, and LNG capacity.

The oil company also said it would maintain its US$ 7 billion share buyback program for 2022 and pay a special dividend of 1 euro per share in December this year.

The new targets and special dividend will likely please investors, but the future of the company's Russian investments - including minority stakes in Russia's Novatek, Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 2 - remains the elephant in the room, analysts said.

Analysts say uncertainty over Russia, as well as the impact of a possible unexpected European Union tax on energy groups that have benefited from rising prices, explain the relative underperformance of TotalEnergies shares, despite record profits.