NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Wednesday that the western military alliance will debate the bloc's nuclear policy in Estonia next month.

He said a "discussion" is planned after the foreign ministers of Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Norway requested "a major debate" on NATO's nuclear policy at their next gathering in Tallinn on April 22 and 23.

However, Rasmussen stressed that the talks, which come as President Barack Obama mulls a drastic cut in the US nuclear arsenal, will have to balance calls to remove outdated weapons with a need for a strategic nuclear "deterrent."

The five want to see the withdrawal of Cold War-era US nuclear warheads from five NATO nations; Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

There are no official figures published but there are thought to be some 240 of these US nuclear weapons involved.

In November, Rasmussen said any such decisions should be taken within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's "multilateral framework and that no unilateral step be taken."