Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected allegations by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel that he deliberately tried to intimidate her during their meeting in Sochi in 2007.

"To be honest, and I told Merkel this - I didn't know she was afraid of dogs. Had I known, I never would have done it. Rather, I wanted to create a casual, friendly atmosphere. I realized that she was afraid of dogs only later," Putin said, answering questions from reporters.

"Now we are talking, it will all be in the media, so I want to address her once again: Angela, please forgive me, I did not want to upset you, on the contrary, I wanted to create a positive atmosphere for I apologize if I come again - although I understand that it is unlikely, but still - I will not."

In her memoirs, Merkel emphasized that Putin deliberately used his dog to scare her and that he knew about her fear of dogs. She described how Putin allowed his dog, Koni, to approach her during a photo shoot.

"I tried to ignore the dog even though it was moving pretty close to me. I interpreted Putin's facial expressions as if he was enjoying the situation. Was this a small show of power? I just tried to stay calm, focus on photographers, when it was over, I didn't say a word to Putin," Merkel said.

She noted that the incident occurred despite clear requests from German diplomatic staff to keep the dog away. She added that Putin showed awareness of her phobia a year ago by giving her a stuffed dog in Moscow.

The former chancellor's fear of dogs was born from a traumatic event in early 1995, when she was bitten by a dog.