Prague - Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek will this week tour energy-rich states around the Caspian Sea as part of his role as president of the EU council, the EU office in Prague announced Wednesday.

Key topics under discussion will be cooperation, particularly in the field of energy. All three states on the Caspian Sea are involved in planning for a gas pipeline to Europe bypassing Russian supplies.

Topolanek was scheduled to meet President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazkakhstan on Thursday before seeing Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedow, the president of Turkmenistan, on Friday and continuing the same day to Azerbaijan to meet President Ilham Aliyev.

Azerbaijan would supply much of the gas for the proposed Nabucco pipeline. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan would also act as gas suppliers, in moves that have upset Moscow, which currently supplies much of Europe's gas. (dpa)