At 17 March the International Criminal Court issued a warrant of arrest against Vladimir Putin for alleged complicity in war crimes against Ukraine. Moscow shrugged it off, not recognising the ICC. But Putin failed the first litmus test: the South-African president Cyril Ramaphosa dissuaded him to come to the BRICS-summit in Johannesburg (22 till 24 August). It is a slap in the face for Putin and gives credit to ICC and South Africa, says legal expert Sergey Vasiliev of the University of Amsterdam. Elites might wonder what use is a leader who is isolated from the world.