AUSTIN (AP) - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas will visit Ukraine this month and meet with leaders of the protest movement that forced out the country's pro-Russian president.

Frequently mentioned as a potential 2016 White House contender, Cruz also will visit other Eastern European countries and Israel on a trip that could be seen as an attempt to build his foreign policy credentials.

Dates and details of his other stops were not immediately released Tuesday by his office. Ukraine has a May 25 presidential election.

The trip is sponsored by Secure America Now, a conservative foreign policy group.

Cruz has said the U.S. should install anti-ballistic missile batteries in Poland and the Czech Republic as safeguards for Eastern Europe, and push for liquefied natural gas exports to reduce Ukraine's dependence on Russia.