Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is set to visit Turkey over the weekend to discuss the Ukraine crisis and bilateral relations with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
Addressing a news conference in Tokyo, Hayashi said he will be visiting Ankara and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the course of three days starting Friday to "confirm coordination on the situation in Ukraine, stabilization of international crude oil market and deepen bilateral ties."
He said Çavuşoğlu "just hosted two Foreign Ministers of Russia and Ukraine" besides visiting the capitals of the countries at war.
Last week, in a major breakthrough, Turkey succeeded in bringing together top diplomats of Russia and Ukraine in the Mediterranean city Antalya.
The trilateral meeting between Turkey, Russia and Ukraine was held ahead of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum last weekend.
This week, Çavuşoğlu visited Moscow and Kyiv as part of Turkey's efforts to end Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24.
Hayashi said Turkey and Japan will also mark 100 years of diplomatic relations in 2024.
"This visit is aimed at deepening the bilateral relations," he added.
On his planned trip to the UAE, the current chair of the United Nations Security Council as a nonpermanent member, Hayashi said the two countries will mark 50 years of diplomatic relations this year.
"We would like to confirm coordination to stabilize the international crude oil market with the UAE, which is an OPEC member country," the Japanese foreign minister said.
Early this week, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ) and stressed that the UAE must make "proactive contributions" as a major oil producer.
On Thursday, Kishida also spoke to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to discuss the energy supply stability.
The security council has held several rounds of discussions on Russia's war on Ukraine but has failed to come up with a plan to end the war after Russia vetoed the United States' move. Both are permanent members of the top U.N. body.
Moscow has drawn international condemnation followed by sweeping financial sanctions and export controls, which spurred an exodus of global firms from Russia.
