Saudi Arabia's King Salman will not attend a Camp David summit of US and allied Arab leaders, his foreign minister, Adel al Jubeir, said Sunday.

US President Barack Obama had planned to meet Salman one-on-one a day before the gathering of leaders at the presidential retreat but the White House did not take his decision to skip the summit as a sign of any substantial disagreement with the US.

"We first learned of the King's possible change of plans from Saudis on Friday night," a senior US administration official told Fox News.

"This was confirmed by the Saudis on Saturday. We coordinated closely with our Saudi partners on the alternate arrangement and timing of the announcement and look forward to welcoming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This is not in response to any substantive issue."

The king, who took power in January after his brother King Abdullah died, has not traveled abroad since his ascension to the throne.