Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is considering visiting Ukraine next month to meet with President Petro Poroshenko and express Japan's support for a peaceful settlement of the crisis in the country, government sources said.

Abe would make the visit before attending the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Germany on June 7-8, the sources said according to Kyodo News Agency on Saturday.

Tokyo has welcomed the cease-fire reached in February between the Ukraine government and pro-Moscow rebels, urging all parties involved to ease tensions sparked by the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014.