Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi plans to visit the United Arab Emirates and Turkey this month, diplomatic sources said Wednesday, as Tokyo steps up diplomacy in the wake of Russia's intensifying attack on Ukraine.

Hayashi's three-day trip to the UAE, a major producer of crude oil, and Turkey, which has close ties with both Russia and Ukraine, may start on March 19, according to the sources.

Around the same period, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is considering traveling to India and Cambodia for meetings with their leaders, with the Ukraine crisis expected to be among the agenda items, the sources said.

In a planned meeting in Turkey with his counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, Hayashi is expected to convey Japan's support for Turkey's efforts to halt the war in Ukraine.

Hayashi plans to underscore that Japan regards the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a serious violation of international law, and any attempt to rock the foundation of the international order must never be tolerated.

On Monday, Cavusoglu said the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia agreed to meet Thursday on the sidelines of a diplomatic forum in Antalya province, southern Turkey, in what could be the first talks between the two top diplomats since Moscow launched the invasion of its neighbor on Feb. 24.

Sharing the border with Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea, Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization member, had been offering to mediate between Moscow and Kyiv.

Ankara has called Russia's "military operation" in Ukraine "unacceptable" but has opposed sanctions against Moscow.

In a planned meeting in the UAE with his counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Hayashi is expected to seek assurances on a stable oil supply to Japan.

The ministers are expected to affirm the need to stabilize global crude oil prices, especially when international sanctions on Russia, a major oil producer, are certain to raise oil prices even higher.

The UAE is the second-largest crude oil supplier to energy-scarce Japan after Saudi Arabia.

Last week, Turkey, the UAE and Cambodia voted for a U.S.-led U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Moscow's aggression against Ukraine.

However, India, which depends on Russia for arms procurement, abstained.