Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (R) and Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel attend a news conference after their meeting at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg in this June 21, 2013 file picture. Unlike presidents in Washington, the German chancellor has never harboured any illusions about the former Soviet agent, nor hopes that she might change him. It is this hard-nosed realism, born of Merkel’s own experience growing up in a Soviet garrison town in East Germany and reinforced over a turbulent 14-year relationship with Putin, that has earned her respect in the Kremlin and thrust her into the potentially risky role of chief mediator in the Ukraine crisis. To match Insight MERKEL-PUTIN/ REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk/Files (RUSSIA – Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS)