Speaking in Kiev during a tour of European allies, Gates castigated his NATO partners, saying he was "not satisfied" with their support for the NATO-led International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.

"I encourage all allies and partners to contribute as much as they can, especially in support of our efforts in Afghanistan," Gates said.

Growing casualties in Afghanistan have led some countries to plan troop reductions or withdrawals from ISAF, which currently has a total of 37,000 people from 37 countries.

The issue will be the "principal theme" of a meeting of alliance defence ministers in the Netherlands later in the week, he said.

Gates was speaking at a grouping of southeast European defence ministers in the Ukrainian capital. He also called on them to increase their support for the US "war on terror."

The United States enjoys the support of several former Soviet bloc nations in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

But results from Poland's parliamentary elections on Sunday appeared to strike a blow to its position as one of Washington's closest allies in the region.

Poland's liberal opposition Civic Platform won Sunday's polls, trouncing the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party of Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and his twin brother, President Lech Kaczynski.

While strong military cooperation with the United States has been at the heart of the Kaczynskis' foreign policy, Civic Platform leader Donald Tusk has vowed to bring home soon 900 Polish troops serving in Iraq.

He has also voiced reservations about the size of the 1,200-strong Polish force serving in Afghanistan and threatened to soften the Kaczynskis' strong support of US plans to build part of an anti-missile shield in Poland.

"We are clearly hopeful that the kind of cooperation we enjoyed recently both in Iraq and Afghanistan on the one hand and... negotiations on an agreement on missile defence will continue as before," Gates said.

"Obviously we'll have to have discussions with the new government of Poland in terms of specific future plans" on Poland's contribution to the missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.

Gates's primary concern appeared to be the support from other NATO states, which he said had not fulfilled pledges made at a summit in Riga in November 2006.

"I am not satisfied that an alliance with members who have over two million soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen cannot find the modest additional resources that have been committed for Afghanistan," he told journalists.

In particular Gates called for additional reconstruction teams and help in building up the Afghan army.

Gates also called on NATO members to keep their troops in Kosovo after a December 10 deadline for a decision on the future of the disputed province.

"I'm asking all nations to keep their forces in KFOR regardless of what happens after December 10," Gates said, referring to NATO's Kosovo force.

Talks run by the European Union, Russia and the United States are due to be concluded by December 10 under a deadline set by the UN Security Council.

Kosovo is demanding independence, while Serbia is only prepared to award autonomy to the majority ethnic Albanian province.

Officials from Brussels, Moscow and Washington began new talks with delegates from Pristina and Belgrade on Monday in Vienna to determine the future status of the province.

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