MOSCOW, January 23 (RIA Novosti) - Alexei Miller, the chief executive of Russian energy giant Gazprom, will soon pay a visit to Turkmenistan to discuss joint projects in the natural gas sector, a Kremlin source said Monday.

President of Turkmenistan Saparmurat Niyazov told Vladimir Putin earlier on Monday that his country intended to cooperate with Russia in major energy projects, including natural gas supplies, the development of gas deposits, and export of Turkmen energy.

Russia's gas pipelines are crucial for Turkmenistan's energy exports. Turkmen gas accounts for the bulk of the Central Asian supplies delivered through Russia to Ukraine under a deal signed by Kiev early this month with Gazprom.