Peace is better.
In his book published recently, the former German chancellor talks in detail about a 2007 meeting in Sochi, where he had a meeting with Vladimir Putin. However, the event was disrupted by a small interlude, as the Russian president brought his large labrador with him, while everyone in diplomatic circles knew that Angela Merkel was afraid of dogs. Putin later spoke out and apologized.
Angela Merkel met Vladimir Putin in Sochi back in 2007.
The summit left such a deep impression on the former German chancellor that he wrote about it in detail in his recently published memoir. Not because of what was said there, but because of the circumstances. Merkel was known to be afraid of dogs, but the Russian president nevertheless brought his black labrador with him to the meeting.
The German newspaper Die Zeit published the former chancellor's book Freiheit (Freedom), when the entire volume had not yet been published. Merkel's phobia of dogs and the Sochi case were already mentioned in that preview, but now we can get to know the story in more detail.
I tried to ignore the dog even though it was moving more or less right next to me. I interpreted Putin's expression to mean that he was enjoying the situation. Did you just want to see how a person in trouble would react? Was it a show of force? I just thought: stay calm, focus on the photographers, and it will pass
Angela Merkel recalled the memorable scene of the meeting in Sochi in her memoir, The Telegraph article.
In the memoirs of the always rational chancellor, only his resentment seems to prevail
The footage clearly shows that a large dog is walking around the room during the meeting between the two leaders. On one occasion, it walked right up to Merkel, who, according to the photos, felt uncomfortable.
The two politicians also met a year earlier, but the event took place without dogs at the Moscow gathering. Merkel writes that she knew that the Russian president sometimes took the Labrador named Koni with him during meetings with foreign leaders, so one of his assistants told Putin's team not to bring the dog to their meetings.
At the 2008 meeting in Moscow, the Russian president therefore presented Merkel with a huge stuffed dog, noting that it does not bite.
According to the former chancellor, he has been terrified since he was bitten by a dog in 1995.
Superpower dog cases: what do the "independents" lie about and what do they keep silent about?
However, Angela Merkel did not make it when they met the following year. Regarding the incident, journalists again asked Vladimir Putin how he remembered the meeting in Sochi. In his answer, he stated that he did not know that the former chancellor was afraid of dogs, if he had known, he would not have put him in such an uncomfortable situation.
Angela, please forgive me! I didn't mean to hurt you
- the Russian president took the opportunity to apologize to Merkel again, bringing smiles to the faces of the Russian journalists present.
Featured image: MTI/EPA/Igor Kovalenko
