In Kati Marton's book "The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel" (2021), she describes "that she (Merkel) spoke to Putin thirty-eight (38) times during Russia's offensive in Ukraine. She tried to "get him to climb down from his aggressive, bombastic behavior through patient talk," and bring him back to reality (p.171). Then she would call Obama and say "I don't know what to do with a man who just lies constantly to me," Obama laughed and said "makes two of us" (ibid)... The other one who was a pain was Donald Trump of course. With him, she would need every ounce of self-control (p.217). Trump always bullied her for money for his "America first" project... I wonder whether he had to always bully his wealthy father for money...