MOSCOW, September 29 (RIA Novosti) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will pay a working visit to Moscow on Thursday at the invitation of her Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, the Russian government said Monday.

The premiers' talks will focus on trade, economic and energy cooperation.

Tymoshenko told journalists in Kiev on Monday that she "hopes very much" to agree with the Russian side on natural gas supplies to Ukraine.

For 2008, Ukraine is paying $179.5 per 1,000 cu m of gas it imports from Russia, but Alexei Miller, the ÑEO of Russian energy giant Gazprom, has not ruled out that from 2009 gas could cost Ukraine $400 per 1,000 cu m.

President Viktor Yushchenko last week demanded that Ukraine agree as soon as possible with Russia on the issue, and Tymoshenko said she would try to secure a price of less than $400 for 2009 while negotiating a long-term contract with Russia to be signed by late October.

The Ukrainian government confirmed that the prime minister would visit Moscow on October 2.