The Kremlin says it has apologized to a U.S. investment bank and a German newspaper over erroneous remarks by President Vladimir Putin.
In a televised call-in show on April 14, Putin stated incorrectly that the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper was owned by Goldman Sachs in remarks about who he thought was behind the Panama Papers leak.
It was the German daily that first obtained the materials detailing suspicious money transfers of some of the world’s wealthy and powerful, including people close to Putin.
"It is more the error of those who prepared the briefing documents -- my error," Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, told reporters on April 15.
Putin called the Panama Papers leak "a provocation" during his highly choreographed show.
"First article about it appeared in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the media outlet that is part of a media holding owned by the U.S. financial corporation Goldman Sachs," Putin said.
Peskov said that apologies had been offered both to the bank and to the newspaper.
