The discussion comes after German Defense Minister Peter Struck said last month that he wanted to bring up the issue of US nuclear weapons stationed in Germany with his partners at the military alliance.

"The meeting will address the status of nuclear forces", said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, when asked Germany would raise the issue of US nuclear arms on its territory.

In Berlin, a spokesman for the defense ministry declined to say if Struck would raise the issue but did say "I can imagine this subject will be talked about".

"I'm not going to talk about details of what the discussions will be ... but we are not expecting radical changes", the NATO official said.

Although a meeting of NATO's nuclear planning committee is not unusual, it has not met for 18 months. The committee brings together all NATO states except France, since Paris left the alliance's integrated command structure in 1966.

The committee members hold highly confidential debates about nuclear questions, generally consisting of presentations by the United States or Britain, the only NATO members on the committee with nuclear weapons.

About 95 percent of the nuclear weapons stationed in Europe have been withdrawn since the collapse of the Iron Curtain.

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