Let no one say that Angela Merkel isn’t onto Vladimir Putin’s dirty tricks and cynicism. As a former East German, the chancellor speaks Russian just as the Russian president, a former KGB offer stationed in Dresden, is fluent in German. They’ve known each other for decades. She still recalls vividly his attempt during a visit in 2007 to intimidate her, a known cynophobe, by letting his black Labrador Koni sniff her.
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Andreas Kluth: Putin wins any staring contest with Germany and Europe
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putingive a statement on Aug. 18, 2018, at Schloss Meseberg castle in northeasternGermany, where they met to discuss the conflicts in Syria and Ukraineas well as energy issues.
