Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel answer journalists' questions during a joint news conference in Moscow's Kremlin November 16, 2012. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov
BERLIN (Reuters) - On a Sunday in early March, a day after Vladimir Putin won parliamentary backing for an invasion of Ukraine, Angela Merkel called him to demand an explanation. The German leader was shaken by what she heard, sources within her party say.
For weeks, in a series of phone calls, the Russian president, speaking mainly in the German he perfected as a KGB agent in East Germany, had assured the chancellor he would respect the territorial integrity of his western neighbour and had no plans to intervene militarily.
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