RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — When Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud came to Moscow in October 2017, a popular joke in the city about the size of his motorcade was that it had as many vehicles as there were letters in the royal’s full name.
In Riyadh, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s motorcade was composed only of his Aurus Senat limousine but it was the 16 beautiful Arabian horses that accompanied the vehicle that showed the Saudis intended to give him a reception fit for a czar.