Putin ‘loved’ world chief’s worry of canine in face off together with his ‘pleasant’ Labrador

Vladimir Putin enjoyed playing political mind games with his fellow world leaders and even let his dog out for one of them despite knowing she is afraid of dogs.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in her new memoir that Mad Vlad appeared to enjoy it when his labrador appeared during a photo op. Merkel, dubbed ‘Mutti’ by her German admirers, said she didn’t bring it up, adopting a policy of “never explain, never complain.”

Merkel, who was chancellor from 2005 until 2021, met Putin a number of times. The incident she was referring to occurred in 2007 and became infamous in Germany.

READ MORE:World’s tallest and shortest women meet for the first time ever in historic photoshoot

READ MORE: ‘Extra bank holiday’ in 2025 to mark major anniversary

Click here for the latest headlines from the Daily Star.

“I could tell from Putin’s facial expressions… that he was enjoying the situation” Merkel wrote, The Times reported.

“The dog does not bother you, does she?” Putin purportedly asked her about his black Labrador Connie, the Mail said. “She’s a friendly dog and I’m sure she will behave herself.”

Merkel responded in Russian, saying the dog does not “eat journalists, after all”. At the time, Putin told the German news publication Bild that he had no idea about Merkel’s fear of dogs.

She also recalled being kept waiting by Putin at the Group of Eight summit she hosted in 2007. “If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s unpunctuality,” she said.

At one of their meetings, Merkel said, Putin pointed to wooden houses in Siberia and told her poor people lived there who “could be easily seduced,” and that similar groups had been encouraged by money from the US government to take part in Ukraine’s “Orange Revolution” of 2004 against attempted election fraud.

Putin, she said, added: “I will never allow something like that in Russia.”

Merkel says she was irritated by Putin’s “self-righteousness” in a 2007 speech in Munich in which he turned away from earlier attempts to develop closer ties with the US. She said that appearance showed Putin as she knew him, “as someone who was always on guard against being treated badly and ready to give out at any time, including power games with a dog and making other people wait for him.”

Merkel became known for ploughing forward with building closer German ties to Russia during her premiership. Given Mad Vlad’s grim behaviour as Russian leader, Mutti has been in for some criticism from some who think links between the two powers were a bit too close, citing the West’s over-reliance on Russian gas.

Merkel also blocked Ukraine’s entry to NATO in 2008 and some have suggested this could have prevented war in the coutnry.

She defended her record speaking to the BBC earlier this week. “We would have seen military conflict [in Ukraine] even earlier,” she insisted. “It was completely clear to me that President Putin would not have stood idly by and watched Ukraine join Nato.

“And back then, Ukraine as a country would certainly not have been as prepared as it was in February 2022.”

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thinks Merkel made a “miscalculation”.

Merkel added that the current situation is “frightening” due to Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

She said: “Thankfully, China also spoke about this a while back. We shouldn’t be paralysed by fear, but we must also acknowledge that Russia is the biggest, or alongside the US, one of the two biggest nuclear powers in the world.”

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.