US Secretary of State John Kerry will launch a nine-day trip by traveling to Riyadh for talks on Sunday with King Abdullah amid tensions with the Gulf Kingdom.

US Secretary of State John Kerry will launch a nine-day trip by traveling to Riyadh for talks on Sunday with King Abdullah amid tensions with the Gulf Kingdom.

Kerry "will reaffirm the strategic nature of the US-Saudi relationship given the importance of the work between our two countries on shared challenges," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

"Kerry will try to ease strains with Riyadh over Syria and Iran."

Kerry's trip from November 3 to 11 will also take him to Poland, Palestine, Jordan, Algeria and Morocco, she said.

Kerry is also expected to tackle the Middle East "peace talks" with the Palestinian and the Israeli officials.

The US top diplomat wraps up the trip in North Africa with stops in Algiers and Rabat.