MOSCOW -- Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma arrived in Moscow on Thursday for a two-day economic summit with his Russian counterpart President Vladimir Putin, Interfax reported.

The Kremlin Press Office said the talks will focus on energy negotiations between the two sides as well as the construction of new natural gas pipelines linking Russian producers with Ukraine, AFP reported.

Last month, Russia, Ukraine and Germany created a joint consortium to manage Ukrainian gas pipeline network. Moscow has repeatedly accused Kiev of pilfering its gas exports to Western Europe.

The new entity will be responsible for managing and developing Ukraine's gas pipelines, which transport the bulk of Russian and Central Asian gas exports to Western Europe.

Russia's Gazprom, the world's largest gas producer, exports 130 billion cubic meters of gas a year to Europe, of which up to 90 percent goes through Ukraine.

But since Putin's arrival in power in Russia two and a half years ago, relations between Kiev and Moscow have improved markedly.

Last year the two sides reached a tentative agreement on rescheduling payment of Ukraine's $1.4-billion natural gas payment to Russia over 12 years.