ASTANA: Russian President Vladimir Putin apologised to former German chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, saying he did not mean to scare her when he brought his pet Labrador to a meeting with her in 2007.

Merkel, who has a well-documented fear of animals, recalled the tense encounter in her memoir released on Tuesday, accusing Putin of inviting the pet as a `demonstration of power` and taking glee in her discomfort.

`I did not know that she was afraid of dogs,` the Kremlin chief said at a press conference in the Kazakh capital Astana.

`I once again appeal to her via the media and say: Angela, please forgive me, I did not want to cause you any heartache`. On the contrary, I wanted to create a favourable atmosphere for our conversation,` he added.

`If you ever _ I realise it is unlikely _ come again, I will not do it under any circumstances,` Putin said.

Images from their 2007 meeting in the Russian city of Sochi showed Putin`s black Labrador Retriever Konni sniffing around while the German leader sat in her chair, smiling nervously. Merkel said of the 2007 encounter 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 from visiting dignitaries on multiple occasions.

He received Konni as a gift from Sergei Shoigu, who later became his defence minister.-AFP