By Mark John and Sue Pleming
At a meeting in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, defence ministers with troops fighting fierce battles against the Taliban in the south of Afghanistan backed calls by the United States for more countries to send forces there.
On a visit to frontline troops in the birthplace of the Taliban, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband also kept up the pressure on reluctant allies to share the combat burden.
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the 43,000-strong ISAF peace force in Afghanistan had made progress but acknowledged more needed to be done.
U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates toned down his rhetoric, a day after saying NATO was at risk of splitting into members who are willing to "fight and die to protect people's security and those who were not".
"I came away from the meeting encouraged," he said. "I think everybody understands the nature of the problem."
Canadian Defence Minister Peter Mackay reaffirmed Ottawa's demand for an extra 1,000 troops ahead of a parliamentary vote next month that will decide whether it can prolong the mandate of its 2,500 troops in southern Afghanistan.
French Defence Minister Herve Morin signalled a willingness to help Canada and a government spokesman said France was considering reinforcements. But Morin played down media reports that some 700 paratroopers could be deployed to the south.
In Afghanistan, Rice dismissed independent reports that Afghanistan risked becoming a failed state and said "remarkable progress" had been made. But she said the war would go on.
On Wednesday, Germany said it would send around 200 combat soldiers to northern Afghanistan as part of a NATO Quick Reaction Force but would not move any of its 3,500 troops in the country to the south.
"I think Germany has taken on a great deal of responsibility in Afghanistan," she told a news conference.
Both called for the speedy appointment of a senior figure as UN envoy to coordinate international efforts on Afghanistan after Karzai rejected Lord Ashdown for the role.
(Writing by Andrew Gray and Mark John; Editing by Stephen Weeks)
