SUBANG: His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, left for Russia this morning for a state visit, from tomorrow until Aug 10, at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin.
His Majesty’s visit will be the first by a Malaysian Head of State to Russia since diplomatic relations were established in April 1967.
The special plane carrying His Majesty departed from the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base here at about 8.55 am.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof were present to bid farewell to Sultan Ibrahim.
Also present were Foreign Minister Datuk Mohamad Hasan, Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil, Health Minister Datuk Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul, Attorney General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, Chief of the Armed Forces General Tan Sri Mohd Nizam Jaffar, Commander of the Royal Malaysian Air Force General Datuk Seri Muhamad Norazlan Aris and Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Mohd Khalid Ismail were also present to bid farewell to His Majesty.
Before departing, His Majesty received a Royal Salute from a guard-of-honour mounted by the First Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment, accompanied by a 21-gun salute and the national anthem, Negaraku.
Sultan Ibrahim is scheduled to arrive in Moscow on Tuesday and will be welcomed at a State Reception at the Kremlin on Wednesday before holding an official meeting with Putin and attending a State Banquet hosted by the Russian President.
On Aug 8, Sultan Ibrahim will depart for Kazan, the fifth largest city in Russia, and will receive an audience from the Rais (Head) of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, during which they will discuss, among others, potential cooperation in the trade, investment, halal industry and agricultural technology sectors.
Russia is currently Malaysia’s ninth-largest trading partner among European countries and 28th globally, with bilateral trade value reaching RM11.46 billion (USD2.48 billion) in 2024.
For the period January to June 2025, total Malaysia-Russia trade was recorded at RM4.13 billion (USD945.7 million).
