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Agency Report
Former German chancellor Angela Merkel said that she does not think Russian President Vladimir Putin lied to her at first – but later, when it came to his takeover of Ukraine’s Crimea, he did.
Merkel made her comments in a CNN interview broadcast on Tuesday, during which journalist Christiane Amanpour asked her how she could negotiate with someone Merkel had called a “brazen liar?”
She said at the beginning of her work as chancellor – she first took the post in 2005 – Putin “did not say these brazen lies.”
“But later on in Crimea, he did admit that, that he had lied.” She then had to be very cautious with him.
Merkel responded in German during the talk.
Putin illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014.
Merkel has been promoting her recently published memoir “Freedom: Memories 1954-2021” and appeared in TV interviews alongside former US president Barack Obama in Washington.
In her book, Merkel describes how Putin was aware of her fear of dogs during a meeting in 2007 and deliberately brought his labrador into the room to unsettle her. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin had only wanted to create a cosy atmosphere by bringing his dog into the negotiation room.
In her conversation with Amanpour, the former chancellor emphasized that it was rather unlikely that Putin was unaware of her fear of dogs. Essentially, she said, it was a power game.
“I survived. The dog didn’t bite me. So, let’s leave it at that.”
