‘Looted’ art spat overshadows Merkel visit to Putin

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s trip to Russia to meet Vladimir Putin was overshadowed by a spat about a museum event, apparently cancelled by Russia, where she was due to refer to German art seized by the Soviets in the wake of World War Two.

“Uproar about looted art”, “Putin is a miserable diplomat”, “Looted art scandal overshadows Russia trip”, wrote Germany’s incensed media, calling it a sign of deteriorating relations between the two countries.

Merkel flew to Russia to address an economic forum in St Petersburg hosted by Putin and was going to join him last night to open an exhibition entitled The Bronze Age of Europe: Europe Without Borders at the Hermitage museum.