Angela, forgive me: Putin denies scaring Merkel with dog

ASTANA: Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised to former German chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, saying he did not mean to scare her when he brought his pet Labrador to a meeting with her in 2007.

Merkel, who has a well-documented fear of animals, recalled the tense encounter in her memoir released Tuesday, accusing Putin of inviting the pet as a “demonstration of power” and taking glee in her discomfort.

“I did not know that she was afraid of dogs,” the Kremlin chief said Thursday at a press conference in the Kazakh capital Astana.

“I once again appeal to her via the media and say: ´Angela, please forgive me, I did not want to cause you any heartache.´ On the contrary, I wanted to create a favourable atmosphere for our conversation,” he added.

“If you ever -- I realise it is unlikely -- come again, I will not do it under any circumstances,” Putin said.

Images from their 2007 meeting in the Russian city of Sochi showed Putin´s black Labrador Retriever Konni sniffing around while the German leader sat in her chair, smiling nervously.

Merkel said of the 2007 encounter in her memoir: “I could tell from Putin´s facial expressions that he was enjoying the situation.” He received Konni as a gift from Sergei Shoigu, who later became his defence minister.