U.S. and European companies are girding for the possible impact of tougher international sanctions against Moscow , with auto makers and energy giants moving to limit the Russian risks to their businesses. French oil company Total SA said Wednesday that it has stopped increasing its stake in Russia’s second-largest natural-gas producer, OAO Novatek , and will discuss the sanctions with its partners in Russian projects. A factory of Russian titanium-manufacturing company VSMPO-Avisma. Reuters “Russia is a great oil-and-gas country and we’ll have to wait and see the nature of these new sanctions first,” Total Chief Financial Officer Patrick de la Chevardière told reporters during a conference call. The European Union and the U.S. on Tuesday adopted sweeping economic sanctions against Russia, targeting for the first time sectors including Russia’s state-controlled banks and oil industry. The stronger sanctions have been driven by public outrage and Kremlin recalcitrance in the aftermath […]