One Mention of Putin Shocks Merz at Reception: German Chancellor’s Fear

The video was published and commented on by Kremlin pool journalist Dmitry Smirnov on his channel. During the reception, someone mentioned Russian President Vladimir Putin and said, "Putin." Immediately afterward, the German leader dropped the cake he had been holding. "An explanation has been found for why Merz dropped the cake," comments the author of the Telegram channel "POOL №3."

Earlier, the German chancellor spoke about the "need for Russia to pay Ukraine 500 billion euros in compensation." Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova suggested taking a broader look at the history of the issue. She raised the question of mutual financial claims that could be made and proposed starting with calculating the damages caused to Russia by Western intervention between 1918 and 1922.