ASTANA, Nov. 29 — Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, saying he did not want to scare her when he brought his pet Labrador to a meeting with her in 2007 .

Merkel, who has a well-known fear of animals, recalled the tense encounter in her memoir published Tuesday, accusing Putin of inviting the animal as a “show of power” and reveling in its discomfort.

“I didn’t know she was afraid of dogs,” the Kremlin leader said at a news conference in the Kazakh capital Astana on Thursday.

“I’m once again reaching out to her through the media and saying, ‘Angela, please forgive me, I didn’t mean to cause you grief.’ On the contrary, I wanted to create a favorable atmosphere for our conversation,” he added.

“If you ever come back – I realize it’s unlikely – I will under no circumstances do it,” Putin said.

Footage of their 2007 meeting in the Russian city of Sochi showed Putin’s black Labrador Retriever, Konni, sniffing while the German leader sat in his chair, smiling nervously.

Merkel said of the 2007 meeting in her memoir: “I could tell from Putin’s facial expressions that he was enjoying the situation. »

Putin is known to be fond of dogs and has received them on several occasions from visiting dignitaries.

He received Konni as a gift from Sergei Shoigu, who later became his Minister of Defense. -AFP