The Kremlin dismissed former German chancellor Angela Merkel’s description of a 2007 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as simply further evidence of Merkel’s anti-Russian bias.
In her newly published memoirs, the former long-time German political leader wrote that Putin had known about her fear of dogs and had deliberately let his pet Labrador into the room to stress her.
“If she wrote something like that, then she was probably not as open to dialog as Putin was,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told pro-Kremlin TV correspondent Pavel Sarubin on Sunday.
Peskov said he suspects Merkel was probably already internally opposed to Russia at the time, even if he could not say this with certainty.
According to Peskov, Putin only wanted to create a cozy atmosphere by bringing his dog into the negotiating room.
A few days ago, Putin had also made a similar statement after the passage in Merkel’s memoirs first came out.
At the time, Putin said, he knew nothing about Merkel’s fear of dogs. He had later apologized to Merkel when he found out about it, but said he was prepared to apologize again.
“Angela, sorry, I didn’t want to cause you any grief,” Putin said at a press conference.
It is unclear whether Putin was speaking sincerely or making light of Merkel. Sarubin, who was also present at the press conference, appeared clearly amused by Putin’s comments.
