Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, saying that he did not deliberately intend to intimidate her by bringing his pet Labrador to their meeting back in 2007, which became a notorious diplomatic incident.
Merkel, who has a well-documented fear of animals, recalled the tense encounter in her memoir, "Freedom," released Tuesday, accusing Putin of inviting his black Labrador Retriever Koni as a "demonstration of power" and taking glee in her discomfort.
Knowing Putin sometimes brought the pet to meetings with foreign guests, Merkel said she had asked an aide the previous year to request Putin's team not to bring out Koni in her presence because she was afraid of dogs.
When they met in Moscow in 2006, she said, Putin respected the request but presented her with a large stuffed dog, remarking that it didn't bite.
But at the encounter in the Russian city of Sochi the following year, the large dog wandered around the room and walked right up to Merkel while the chancellor, visibly uncomfortable, sat alongside Putin in front of photographers and TV cameras.
Asked about the incident on Thursday, Putin denied he had been aware of Merkel's phobia and said he had later apologized to her.
"Frankly – I've already told Merkel, I didn't know she was afraid of dogs. If I'd known, I would never have done it," the the Russian leader said at a news 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 favorable atmosphere for our conversation," Putin added.
"If you ever – I realize it is unlikely – come again, I will not do it under any circumstances," he said.
In her book, the retired chancellor described the incident as an ordeal.
"I tried to ignore the dog, even though he was moving more or less right next to me. I could tell from Putin's facial expressions that he was enjoying the situation."
However, she didn't bring it up – keeping as she often did to the motto "never explain, never complain."
"Did he just want to see how a person reacts in distress? Was it a small demonstration of power? I just thought: stay calm, concentrate on the photographers, it will pass," Merkel wrote.
Putin is known to be fond of dogs and has received them from visiting dignitaries on multiple occasions.
He received Koni as a gift from Sergei Shoigu, who later became his defense minister.
Merkel was the first German chancellor to leave power at a time of her choosing. She announced in 2018 that she wouldn't seek a fifth term, and said she "let go at the right point."
"Freedom" runs to more than 700 pages in its original German edition, published by Kiepenheuer & Witsch. The English edition is being released simultaneously by St. Martin's Press.