Ukraine crisis: Angry Angela Merkel questions whether Putin is 'in touch with reality'

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel is reported to have become “really annoyed” about Russian President Vladimir Putin and has questioned whether he “was still in touch with reality.”

The German mass circulation Bild newspaper wrote on Monday that during a telephone conversation she held with US President Barack Obama to discuss the growing crisis in Ukraine she complained that Mr Putin was “living in another world.”

“She appears to have become really annoyed,” Bild remarked. The paper said it had gained inside information on the telephone exchange between the US and German leaders from American sources.

The two leaders roundly criticised Mr Putin in their conversation and agreed that Russia’s military intervention in Crimea was in violation of international law. A German government spokesman said that both stressed that it was important for the international community to respond to the crisis in unison.

Both were said to be in favour of sending an immediate fact finding mission to Ukraine and backed the idea of setting up of a contact group, possibly overseen by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, with the aim of ending the crisis through political dialogue.

The two also pledged to find ways to help Ukraine out of its current acute financial dilemma.

A German government spokesman said during a separate phone conversation between Mrs Merkel and the Russian President on Sunday, Mr Putin had accepted the idea of setting up a contact group which had been proposed by the German Chancellor.

The spokesman said Mrs Merkel had used the conversation to reiterate her view that Mr Putin had violated international law through Russia’s “unacceptable” intervention in Crimea. Germany has pledged to do all it can to resolve the crisis through political dialogue.