Putin apologized to Merkel for Labrador Koni

Russian President Vladimir Putin at a press conference on Thursday apologized to the former German Chancellor Angela Merkel for the labrador horses that frightened her. The incident occurred in 2007, but was described in the recently arrived memoirs of the German politician, called "Freedom".

“Once again I turn to her and say: Angel, please excuse me, I didn’t want to hurt you with such a mental pain. On the contrary, I wanted to create a favorable atmosphere for our conversation. I apologize,” Russian news agencies give the words of Putin. He stated that he did not know about the fear of Chancellor.

Koni, donated by Putin Sergey Shoigu, was present at the conversation of the Russian president with Merkel in the Sochi residence of the Bochars stream. According to the description of the biographer of the Russian President Andrei Kolesnikov, who was present at the event, Merkel was noticeably excited by the presence of the dog and Putin eventually took Labrador on a leash:

“Mrs. Merkel, seeing Koni next to Mr. Putin, was noticeably contrary to,” Kolesnikov wrote in the report of Kommersant. “Do not be afraid,” the Russian president reassured it. “She does not bite.

I would not say that after that the German Chancellor really calmed down. She watched the dog with a cautiously and sighed with relief when Labrador slowly went to photojournalists.

“Now the journalists will eat,” Angel Merkel said dreamily in Russian.

During the conversation, Koni was distracted several times from eating journalists (views) and approached the German chancellor. Angela Merkel froze and seemed to cease to hear the Russian president, who was finally forced to grab the dog by the leash and even plop it - but, it seems, encouragingly. "

According to Merkel’s memoirs, Putin had to know about her fear of dogs since 2006, when she came to Moscow for the first time. Her adviser then warned the organizer of the visit from the Russian side about this. The Kremlin gave Merkel the plush dog with a comment that this dog does not bite, is told in the book of the former chancellor.

She considered the actions of the Russian president in Sochi by manipulation, it should be from her book, it seemed to her that Putin was enjoying the situation. In 2016, Putin told Bild in an interview that Merkel did not know about the fear of dogs and apologized to her later. This episode in her memoirs is not mentioned, Putin did not say whether she accepted an apology. Labrador Koni died in 2014 and did not leave memories.

• Memoirs Merkel went on sale in Germany on Tuesday, November 26. The 736-page book will be published in 30 languages. The politician born in the GDR became the first woman as the Federal Chancellor of Germany and held this position for 16 years: from 2005 to 2021.