MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/. If Moldova doesn’t want to integrate itself into the post-Soviet space, then "so be it," Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"If, so to say, Moldova doesn’t want to be a participant in this process, then this is the choice of Moldova’s leadership, and so be it," he said during his combined Direct Line Q&A session and year-end press conference, commenting on Chisinau’s stance on integrating into the post-Soviet space.

The president stressed that Russia is building all integration associations, including the Eurasian Economic Union and the CIS, solely on a voluntary basis. Participation in such organizations in the post-Soviet space, in his words, can help boost "competitive advantages in global markets, resolve problems not only in the economy but also in the public sphere, and add to people’s prosperity." "Let them do whatever they want to. The presence of this country in the CIS holds no great value for us," the Russian president said.

He noted that Moldova had been the poorest country in Europe until recently, but "now Ukraine has taken this place of honor." "If Europe’s poorest country (Moldova - TASS), which receives, say, energy from us at quite low prices, wants to follow Germany’s lead, bearing in mind that it is buying energy from the United States at a price 30% higher than it used to buy from Russia, then, they are welcome," Putin said, adding however that despite its grandstanding, Chisinau continues to use Russian gas.