Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised to former German chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, announcing he didn’t imply to scare her when he introduced his puppy Labrador to a gathering along with her in 2007.
Merkel, who has a well-documented concern of the animals, recalled the stressful come upon in her memoir launched Tuesday, accusing Putin of inviting the puppy as a “demonstration of energy” and taking glee in her discomfort.
“I didn’t know that she used to be terrified of canines,” the Kremlin leader mentioned Thursday at a press convention within the Kazakh capital Astana.
“I as soon as once more enchantment to her by means of the media and say: ‘Angela, please forgive me, I didn’t need to reason you any heartache.’ To the contrary, I sought after to create a beneficial environment for our dialog,” he added.
“Should you ever — I realise it’s not likely — come once more, I can no longer do it underneath any instances,” Putin mentioned.
Photographs from their 2007 assembly within the Russian town of Sochi confirmed Putin’s black Labrador Retriever Konni sniffing round whilst the German chief sat in her chair, smiling nervously.
Merkel mentioned of the 2007 come upon in her memoir: “I may just inform from Putin’s facial expressions that he used to be playing the location.”
Putin is understood to be keen on canines and has won them from visiting dignitaries on a couple of events.
He won Konni as a present from Sergei Shoigu, who later become his defence minister.
