How Do Americans Feel About the Potential War in Ukraine?

Warnings of heightened tensions between the West and Russia in Ukraine have not stopped for many weeks now, triggering many questions and mixed reactions over what a potential escalation could lead to at any minute.

For a few weeks now, intelligence from the US and Europe has been raising red flags over a potential Russian plan to invade Ukraine, the country that borders Russia and continues to express interest in joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization known as NATO.

While fears keep fluctuating across the world with hopes of a diplomatic resolution to the crisis, militaries seem to be at an extremely high alert, especially in Europe where more than 80,000 US troops have been deployed to EU countries to support Ukraine's and other European militaries that could potentially face an estimate of 130,000 Russian troops reportedly stationed near the border of Ukraine. 

However, many Americans are taking to social media to express opposition to the possibility of the war, saying that their government "needs to find non-military solutions" to the crisis.

Using the hashtag #NoWarWithRussia, some commentators expressed fears of yet another US involvement in a war abroad, similar to the ones fought in Afghanistan and Iraq since the early 2000s.

This comes at a time US lawmakers assembled to discuss the country's stance from the developments in Ukraine, where Senator Bernie Sanders called on his counterparts "to do everything possible to prevent" what he described as an "enormously destructive war in Ukraine."