BERLIN, March 8--Premier Nikita Khrushchev pledged tonight to work for an end to the cold war if the Western powers agree to withdraw their troops from West Berlin.

The Soviet leader told a reception throng at East Berlin's City Hall that a World War II peace treaty must be concluded with Germany, together with the windup of the 13-year occupation of West Berlin.

"We hope these peaceful suggestions will find acceptance in the Western world," Khrushchev said. "We will undertake everything to eliminate the cold war and reduce international tension and misunderstandings between peoples."

Urge Strengthened Defense

WASHINGTON, March 8--Top Senate Democrats prodded the Eisenhower administration today to strengthen the nation's defenses and to take the foreign policy initiative in the Berlin crisis.

Senate Democratic Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas said the hour has arrived for an answer to the question: "Shall Berlin be remembered as the deathbed of democracy--or as the graveyard of aggression."

He heads the Senate Preparedness subcommittee to reassess defense needs in the light of the Berlin crisis.