Putin denies he tried to frighten Merkel with dog Koni

By Mark Trevelyan

(Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin denied on Thursday that he had deliberately used his black labrador Koni to intimidate German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a meeting in 2007 that became a notorious diplomatic incident.

Merkel wrote in her new memoir "Freedom" that, knowing Putin sometimes brought the pet to meetings with foreign guests, 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 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 apologised 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. On the contrary I wanted to create a relaxed, pleasant atmosphere," he told a press conference.

Russian reporters smirked as Putin issued a fulsome new apology to Merkel and said that, in the unlikely event she was to pay another visit, he "absolutely won't do it again".

"I appeal to her again and say: Angela, please forgive me. I didn't want to cause you any distress," 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 interpreted Putin's facial expressions as him enjoying the situation," she wrote.

"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."

(Reporting by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)