The former German chancellor Angela Merkel A few days ago he presented his memoirs, in which, among other anecdotes, he said that even though he knew that politics was afraid of these animals. A gesture, according to her, that served as a “demonstration of power”. “He showed the public, on another level, how he intended to send signals,” he maintains in its pages.
Putin, however, assured this Thursday that he was unaware of Merkel’s phobia. “As I told Merkel, I didn’t know I was afraid of dogs”he stated during an official visit to Kazakhstan when asked by a journalist about the incident, widely remembered for an iconic photograph that captured Merkel visibly uncomfortable in the presence of the dog, while Putin watched smiling.
Thus, the Russian leader has stated that, if he had known, he would never have allowed the animal to be present. “My intention was, on the contrary, to create a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere”he explained, causing smiles among some journalists present. He has even addressed the former German leader directly: “Angela, forgive me, I didn’t mean to cause you discomfort.”.
A different memory
In her memoirs published this week, Merkel offers a different version of the episode that occurred in Sochi, southern Russia. The former president assures that the incident was premeditated and a way to “show power” or “put her under pressure”. “Stay calm, focus on the photographers, this won’t last long,” she remembers telling herself as the dog came closer to sniff her.
Merkel’s phobia of dogs, originating in her childhood after being bitten, was well known. According to her, his team had expressly requested the Kremlin to avoid Konni’s presence at the meetingsa request that Putin would have respected in a previous meeting in 2006, when, instead of bringing his dog, he gave him a black and white stuffed dog. “He told me he wouldn’t bite,” Merkel comments on that gesture.
Unlike the former German leader, The Russian president is a great animal lover and has shown on several occasions his attachment to Konniwho was a gift from Sergey Shoigucurrent Minister of Defense of Russia.
Position on war
Regarding the war between Russia and Ukraine, Merkel, who governed Germany between 2005 and 2021, defended on Tuesday his opposition at the 2008 NATO summit to paving the way for Ukraine and Georgia to join the alliancesince, as he argued, extending a roadmap would not have favored the security of kyiv.
The accession process would have been slow and during that time Ukraine would not have been covered by the mutual defense clause of NATO and would have been vulnerable to Russian aggression, so integration into the alliance would not have meant a “security plus,” he said.
On the other hand, he defended his decision to maintain relations with Russia after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, which he attributed to not only economic, but also political interests. “Personally, with hindsight, it doesn’t seem like a mistake to me”declared Merkel when asked by journalist Anne Will.
