Russian President Vladimir Putin has again apologized to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Putin denied that he had tried to intimidate Chancellor Merkel with the dog. The Russian president has said that he did not do this deliberately.
Actually this incident is from 2007. When Angela Merkel and Putin were meeting. During this meeting, Putin's pet Labrador dog 'Connie' came along. This scared Merkel very much. This matter was much discussed then.
Now 17 years later, the incident is back in the news as Angela Merkel has mentioned it in her memoir 'Freedom'. The book was released on November 26. In this, Merkel mentions events related to her political and personal life during her 16 years in office. This 273-page book is being sold in more than 30 countries.
Putin was answering questions from reporters in Moscow.
Merkel said – sent a message to Putin before meeting him Angela Merkel wrote in her memoirs-
I knew that Putin sometimes brings his pet dog to meetings with foreign guests. Before meeting him in Moscow in 2006, I sent a message through one of my colleagues to Putin's team asking them not to bring the dog there during my visit. Because I'm afraid of dogs.
Chancellor Merkel wrote that Putin listened to me and came to see me without his pet dog. Then he gifted me a big toy dog and told me that it doesn't bite.
Angela Merkel further wrote in the book-
A year later, Putin and I met again in Sochi, Russia. While I was talking to them, a big dog came into the room. I tried to ignore him but he came very close to me. This made me uncomfortable. There were cameras in front and photographers were taking pictures.
Merkel went on to write that Putin's face showed he was happy to see this. Maybe he wanted to see how I handle difficult situations. He was giving a small demonstration of his power. I tried to keep myself calm and pay attention to the photographers.
Putin apologizes again after 17 years Journalists asked Putin questions about this. On this Putin said – To tell you the truth, I did not know that he is afraid of dogs. However, I still apologized to Merkel. I would never have done it if I had known.
Putin added, “I apologize again to Angela Merkel. I didn't want this at all. Now if she comes to see me, it won't happen again.”
Merkel has written another story about her meeting with Putin in her book. She said she went with Putin to Siberia in 2006, where some people lived in wooden houses. Pointing to those houses, Putin said there were poor people who could easily be misled.
Putin said that such people lived in Ukraine. It was used by America in 2004 to incite against the government. However, Putin also said that he would never allow this to happen in Russia.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
