It's a tale of ruthlessness and intimidation that has dogged one of the most important political relationships of the 21st century. Now Vladimir Putin has spoken out to deny the rumour that he used his pet Labrador to try to frighten Angela Merkel in a remarkable power play at one of their very first meetings.The incident, which has become infamous in Germany, took place at a meeting at Putin's Sochi residence in 2007.The story goes that Putin, who had been briefed on Merkel's fear of dogs, brought his black Labrador, Connie, to the meeting."The dog does not bother you, does she? She's friendly and I'm sure she will behave herself," he apparently told Merkel at the time."No, she doesn't eat journalists, after all," Merkel is believed to have replied in Russian.But photographs from the meeting show Merkel looking extremely uncomfortable as Connie settles near her feet, while Putin appears to be smirking.But on Monday Putin denied he was deliberately trying to frighten or embarrass the German chancellor."I showed her my dog because I thought she would like it. I told her so later and apologised," he said in an interview with Bild.Putin said of Merkel: " She is very sincere and highly professional. In any case, I think the level of trust between us is very high ."Merkel has emerged as one of the most vocal critics of Putin in Europe and has been instrumental in introducing and upholding European sanctions against Russia following its 2014 annexation of Crimea.Connie, who died in 2014 at the age of 15, was given to Putin in 2000 by Sergey Shoigu, Russia's then minister of emergency situations and now minister of defence.She was by all accounts just as friendly as Putin claimed...