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By Alexander Baunov
Mr. Baunov is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and an expert on Russian politics.
Vladimir Putin, in his own telling, is no ordinary leader. He’s a lawyer on the throne. From the very beginning of his tenure, he has leaned on his legal background as part of his presidential persona. The reflex never left him. “After all, I have a law degree,” he told a group of businessmen in May, responding to concerns that a peace deal might bring Western competitors back into Russia. “If you give me the agreement, I’ll flip through it and tell you what needs to be done.”
