Moldova's Prime Minister Vlad Filat invited his Russian counterpart to make a visit to Chisinau, and Dmitri Medvedev accepted. The two officials today had a bilateral meeting in Moscow, followed by a meeting of the delegations and a press conference, the Moldovan Government's press service reported. As Dmitri Medvedev revealed, issues related to cooperation in the areas of agriculture, energy, food industry and IT were discussed at the meeting. “Russia is interested in Moldova to be a strong, independent and sovereign state. We are interested that Moldova develops as an active territory, and the processes of settling the Transnistrian conflict are stepped up. We are open to discuss this issue, which is crucial for Moldova to develop as an independent and sovereign state”, stated Dmitri Medvedev. Concerning the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Customs Union, the Russian Prime Minister said that participation in any organization should stem from the national interest of a country and cannot be imposed, this being also true for both the CIS and the free trade area among the CIS states. “We never forced our partners into accepting anything. It is of course in our interest that the Customs Union expands, but this should happen naturally. If Moldova is interested, we are ready to consider this”, stated Dmitri Medvedev. As regards the agreement on Russian gas supply, Dmitri Medvedev said there are no contradictions; just different viewpoints. “I presented a set of proposals to our partners and we discussed this issue intensely, putting forward all our arguments, including on the energy packages. I said that we have good relations with the EU, an intense trade activity, that we want a liberalized visa regime, but we also have different visions, including on energy packages. Regretfully, the way they are formulated and implemented affects the interest of Russia and Russian companies, including Gazprom. For this reason, we have to take into consideration the membership in such organizations like the Energy Community. I have made proposals for the future and I hope that our Moldovan partners appreciate them and present their proposals in turn”, said Dmitri Medvedev. Vlad Filat revealed for his part that it was agreed to hold the XIII meeting of the Intergovernmental Economic Commission on November 15 and 16 in Chisinau, during which an agreement on migration and readmission is expected to be signed. Also, an economic forum for Moldovan and Russian businessmen will be held. Concerning the Transnistrian issue, the Moldovan Prime Minister thanked Russia for its steadfast position on Moldova's sovereignty and territorial integrity, noting that the settlement of this conflict will help to improve the living conditions for people on the eastern side of the Nistru. Vlad Filat said that another subject discussed was the opening of a new customs terminal in Bryansk to facilitate exports of Moldovan wine to Russia. “Besides wine, there are good conditions to export fruit and vegetables. There should be no barriers in economic processes”, stated Vlad Filat. During Vlad Filat's visit to Moscow, the Moldovan delegation signed a Cooperation Agreement between the Ministries of Interior, a Cooperation Agreement between the Ministries of Regional Development, and a decision to create a joint commission of Moldovan and Russian historians.