Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Thursday, while addressing a press conference, apologized to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel after she claimed that Putin used his pet dog to intimidate her, as she has a fear of dogs.
It is a throwback incident, when Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angella held a meeting in Sochi, Russia, in 2007. Merkel, who has a well-known fear of dogs, described the moment in her recently published memoir as a deliberate “demonstration of power” by Putin.
Responding to it, President Putin said, “Frankly, I’ve already told Merkel; I didn’t know she was afraid of dogs. If I’d known, I would never have done it. On the contrary, I wanted to create a relaxed, pleasant atmosphere.”
“Angela, please forgive me, he said during a press conference in Astana on Thursday.
FLASHBACK : Video of that very meeting between Putin and Merkel in 2007, during which the president’s Labrador Connie scared the German Chancellor 🤣 pic.twitter.com/9Xn4abhi5A
— MARIA (@its_maria012) November 28, 2024
Merkel’s Request was denied
Merkel served as Germany’s chancellor from 2005 to 2021. In her new memoir Freedom, Merkel shared that Putin occasionally brought his dog to meetings with foreign leaders. As she had a phobia of dogs, she had asked an aide the previous year to request that Koni not be present during her encounters with him.
The encounter, captured in photographs, showed Konni approaching Merkel, who appeared visibly uncomfortable while seated. “I tried to ignore the dog, even though he was moving more or less right next to me. I interpreted Putin’s facial expressions as him enjoying the situation,” she wrote.
Reflecting on the incident in her memoir, Merkel wrote, “I could tell from Putin’s facial expressions that he was enjoying the situation.”
However, Putin denied that he “intentionally used his black Labrador, Koni,” to intimidate the German chancellor.
Putin’s pet, female Labrador Retriever, Konni, is known to be present in most of the meetings attended by the president. Putin, a dog lover, has received several dogs as gifts from visiting officials over the years, including Konni, who was given to him by Sergei Shoigu, later Russia’s defense minister.
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