British Prime Minister Tony Blair is heading to Washington next week for talks with U.S. President George W. Bush.

The White House says the two leaders will discuss the worsening security situation in Iraq along with Afghanistan and the global war on terror.

In a statement Thursday, the White House said the U.S. and the United Kingdom are working shoulder to shoulder to bring peace, security, and democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Blair has been the key American ally in the U.S.-led war on Iraq. Despite the troubles in the Gulf nation, Blair's office insisted that the two-day trip is "not a crisis meeting."