The personal relationship between Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is often boiled down to certain anecdotes: her put-downs about his role in the K.G.B., his attempts to rattle her by bringing his large black Labrador to a meeting, knowing her fear of dogs.
But the two countries’ long history of alienation and rapprochement was also at play when Ms. Merkel and Mr. Putin met for three and a half hours on August 18 at the German government’s villa in Meseberg, outside Berlin. It was their second meeting in three months.
