LONDON–Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Wednesday kicks off a week of meetings in the United Kingdom and Norway, beginning with the United Nations peacekeeping ministerial here.

Carter told reporters this will be the first time a U.N. peacekeeping ministerial will be held in the U.K. as last year’s event was hosted by President Barack Obama in New York. Carter said U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May could also attend the event, where he’ll share updates on how the U.S. is progressing on pledges made by Obama last year with some other new ideas. Carter said the demand for peace operations are growing around the world and that the U.S. is the largest contributor to U.N. peacekeeping operations. Aerial view of the Pentagon, Arlington, VA

Following the ministerial, Carter will have a trio of bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Ukraine, Turkey and Israel. Carter, on Thursday, will then decamp for Bodø, Norway, where he’ll meet with Norwegian counterpart, Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide, for talks about U.S-Norway security cooperation and what Søreide has in store for Norway’s military. Bodø is a historic military town located near the Arctic Circle.

Carter will return to Washington on Friday following additional meetings with Norwegian officials.