The king of Malaysia last visited Russia for a private trip at the end of January. He visited the Hermitage Museum in St.Petersburg and was shown around by the Russian president and the museum's general director, Mikhail Piotrovsky.
On Wednesday morning, Malaysian state news agency Bernama reported that the monarch was traveling to Moscow at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sultan Ibrahim's plane reportedly took off for Russia at 8:00 a.m. local time (00:00 GMT).