A U.S. military convoy arriving in the Czech Republic this weekend will encounter both warm welcomes and disdain as rival activists seek to show their opposing views regarding Moscow's incursions into eastern Ukraine.

Pavel Safr, a leading activist behind plans to greet some 500 U.S. soldiers with friendly signs, is concerned that anti-convoy demonstrators will send the wrong message. "I'm acutely troubled by that my country could look like it's siding with Russia," Mr. Safr said.

The American soldiers will be aboard roughly 120 Stryker armored combat vehicles and Humvees traveling through Central Europe from North Atlantic Treaty Organization drills in Poland and the Baltics to the U.S. Army base in Germany. The aim of the NATO exercise, called Dragoon Ride, is to show support for NATO allies in the region, including the Czechs, amid the worst tensions between Russia and the West since the Cold War.

As the Ukrainian crisis continues, differences among NATO allies in the European Union have surfaced. Leaders in Poland and the Baltic states, worried by their proximity to the conflict in Ukraine, have called for tough actions against Moscow. Counterparts elsewhere in the 28-nation bloc have been wary of tough economic sanctions that they fear could hurt their business ties with Russia.

Allowing the convoy "is the least we can do for our allies, and of course we're doing so visibly because the situation requires it," said Czech Defense Minister Martin Stropnicky. "Our citizens will be able be to see that we're rightful members of the North Atlantic alliance."