"US forces are working to reassure allies — especially those that share a border with Russia — of US commitment to the region," officials said of Dunford’s visit, Department of Defense News reported.
On Monday, Dunford was scheduled to meet with US commanders responsible for the theater of operations in Europe and Africa, the report noted.
The US military has said it is concerned over Russia's increasingly sophisticated anti-aircraft defenses, which have allowed Moscow to block access to swaths of air space.
The defenses have been deployed to create no fly zones over Crimea and in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad nestled between NATO allies on the Baltic Sea.
Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern that amassing US and NATO troops and hardware on Russia’s borders is provocative and can destabilize the region.
On Thursday, Dunford will also travel to Turkey for talks with General Hulusi Akar, chief of the Turkish General Staff, to discuss the situation in Syria and Iraq, as well as spiraling Sunni-Shiite tensions that have ruptured ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
