Obama to propose further U.S., Russain nuclear arms cut

Visiting U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday will propose plans for the United States and Russia to further cut strategic nuclear warheads during his high-profile speech at the landmark Brandenburg Gate, a senior U.S. official said.

During his first visit to Berlin as U.S. president, Obama will propose reducing atomic weapons by a third below the 1,550 agreed in the last "New START" treaty with Russia, leaving each country with just over 1,000 weapons.

According to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity, the president will also announce that he will host a nuclear security summit before he leaves office in 2016, in addition to calling for reducing the number of U.S. and Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Europe.

The United States has about 1,700 nuclear weapons, and the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which Obama signed with Russia in 2010, commits Washington and Moscow to cutting their existing warhead ceilings by 30 percent over the next 10 years from the current 2,200 to 1,550.

Obama is visiting Germany after attending the G8 summit in Northern Ireland on June 17-18. The Brandenburg Gate speech before 4,000 audience on Wednesday is the the highlight of his visit, 50 years after John F. Kennedy made the famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" address at the same site.

The president is set to meet German leaders including President Joachim Gauck and Chancellor Angela Merkel before his speech on later Wednesday.

Obama visited the German capital in 2008 and gave a speech at the Victory Column in central Berlin during his presidential election campaign.