TALINN, Estonia (CNN) -- President Bush landed in eastern Europe late Monday on his way to a NATO summit likely to be dominated by the alliance's mission in Afghanistan and a debate over its future role.

Bush landed in the Estonian capital Talinn late Monday, becoming the first American leader to visit that former Soviet republic.

The summit comes as troops from NATO's International Security Assistance Force are battling the resurgent Taliban movement and its allies in the al Qaeda terrorist network in rugged Afghanistan. The fighting has claimed the lives of more than 70 allied troops, mostly British and Canadian, in the past six months, along with 65 Americans.

NATO commanders have been pleading with the leaders of the alliance for more troops and equipment and for the leaders of individual countries to stop restricting their troops to comparatively safe areas.

Bush and the 25 other leaders of the Atlantic alliance will meet Tuesday and Wednesday in Riga, the capital of neighboring Latvia -- one of three former Soviet republics that joined the alliance in 2004. British Prime Minister Tony Blair promised troops in Afghanistan last week that they would get whatever they wanted from the alliance's leaders.