'We didn't hack it!' Russia denies involvement in Saudi king's awkward escalator malfunction

Russia has denied any responsibility in an embarrassing incident at the start of the Saudi king's historic visit to Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin.

After 81-year-old King Salman landed in Moscow on Wednesday evening, the escalator he used to descend from his plane malfunctioned, stopping midway and forcing the aging monarch to walk down the steps himself - after several moments paused awkwardly.

The spokeswoman for Putin's office, Elena Krylova, told Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency on Thursday that the blame for the error fell directly on the Saudi side.

"We do not have any such gangways in our possession," Krylova said, adding that the 15-metre escalator was brought and assembled by technicians from the Saudi delegation.

Video of the malfunction has gone viral on social media.

Salman and Putin are expected to discuss major defence and energy contracts on the first official trip to Russia by a ruler of the oil-rich Sunni powerhouse.

The Kremlin said ahead of the visit that Salman and Putin would also discuss "the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, especially focusing on conflict situations in the region".

The two have profound disagreements on Syria - where more than 330,000 people have been killed since war erupted in 2011 - and Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Houthi rebels since 2015, drawing criticism from Moscow.

Putin visited Riyadh in 2007 and last met Salman in Turkey in 2015.

This is not the first time the king's escalator has made the news.

In March, he travelled to Japan with a 1,000-strong entourage and two golden escalators to help him on and off his private jet.