Alwaght- Saudi Arabia’s King Salman was badly embarrassed upon arrival in Russia when his golden escalator malfunctioned.
The octogenarian monarch was disembarking his private plane on Wednesday after touching down at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport when the customized escalator broke down.
He was forced to walk down the rest of the steps, receiving a guard of honor when he finally set foot on Russian soil for the historic visit.
The 81-year old Saudi ruler brought 1,500 people, a golden escalator and his own carpets on his historic, four-day state visit to Russia.
Sources say a Saudi plane is travelling daily between Riyadh and Moscow to transport supplies. The extravagance by the Saudi monarch comes as The International Monetary Fund said Thursday Saudi Arabia’s economic growth remains stagnant this year and unemployment rises.
The IMF says non-oil growth is projected to dip below 2 percent in 2017 while overall economic growth is expected to be close to zero. The kingdom announced recently that unemployment had risen to 12.8 percent.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has signed preliminary agreements to buy S-400 air defense systems from Russia, officials said, on the sidelines of King Salman's visit to Moscow.
The agreement was announced on Thursday as Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted King Salman - the first sitting Saudi monarch to visit Russia - for talks at the Kremlin.
Along with the S-400 anti-aircraft missiles, Saudi Arabia is also set to buy Kornet anti-tank guided missile systems and multiple rocket launchers under the deal.
