NEW YORK -- Hundreds of protesters from New York City and nearby regions held a rally and a march against US involvement in overseas wars at Times Square on Saturday.

The participants spoke against NATO's expansion and called for peace in Ukraine, criticizing US hefty spending on the Ukraine crisis and the White House's announcement to provide Kiev with another Patriot surface-to-air missile battery.

"We're here today because we oppose the endless expansion of NATO, which is not only unnecessary but reckless and proactive," said Brian Becker, national director of the ANSWER Coalition, a major anti-war coalition in the United States.

Instead of escalating the war and sending more weapons to Ukraine, the United States should go back to the negotiating table and recognize that Russia has legitimate security concerns, Becker told Xinhua on the sidelines of the rally.

"We're also here today because the United States is spending extra 65 billion US dollars to fund war in Ukraine while there are a million homeless people in America, while our schools are underfunded and many people are going into bankruptcy because they can't pay doctors' bills," said Becker, who urged his country to spend that money to help Americans in need rather than funding war and militarism.

Initiated by the ANSWER Coalition and The People's Forum, a movement incubator for working class and marginalized communities, the rally is expected to be followed by similar protests in other US cities ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday.