( dpa ) - The United States expects a stronger commitment to building a strong counter-insurgency in Afghanistan during this week's NATO summit, a top advisor to US President George W Bush said Monday.
In remarks to reporters en route to Ukraine, where Bush is making his first stop late Monday on a week-long journey, National Security Advisor Steve Hadley said the US hoped to make clear to the "publics" of all member countries "what's at stake in Afghanistan."
"We think we're going to have some countries stepping up and doing more in Afghanistan," Hadley said.
Bush is to attend the April 2 to 4 NATO summit in Bucharest, followed by visits to Croatia and Russia.
The US has been pressing NATO allies to commit more troops to combat zones in the south and east of Afghanistan, while European countries are reluctant to commit troops beyond development or training missions.
In the meantime, the Taliban has mounted increasing challenge to the NATO forces who are trying to provide security to the Afghan government.
"We need to be moving more and more into a counter-insurgency mode, which is, of course, an effort of troops, ... to provide security to the population," Hadley said.