Russian-Polish relations before the first Crimean campaign. Alexander Skop’s diplomatic trip to Moscow at the beginning of 1687

Abstract

The article focuses on the Russian-Polish negotiations on the development of a joint plan for military operations shortly after the conclusion of the Eternal Peace and Alliance. The Commonwealth counted on Russian support during the campaign against Moldavia in the summer-autumn of 1686, but did not receive it sufficiently. The Russian government at the same moment was entirely engaged in the preparing of the first Crimean campaign. The new round of negotiations between Moscow and Warsaw took place at the end of 1686 — the beginning of 1687. The Polish diplomacy intended to review and to refine plans of the military cooperation to achieve its own goals in the most effective way. John Sobieski’s military plan consisted of three phases. At first, Russian army was to march to the lower Dnepr to storm Ottoman fortresses located there, Ochakov and Kinburn, and possibly Azov, then to help the Polish-Lithuanian troops to defeat the Belgorod Horde and to seize Budzhak, and finally to invade the Crimean Peninsula, with the support of the king’s troops. Should the plan have been fulfilled, the Russian government would have gained some tactical benefits, but the Muscovite commander, prince Vasilij Golitsyn refused to accept it. The reason for the refusal was the intention of the Russian side in the current military campaign to exert military and political pressure primarily on the Crimean Khanate, without inflicting serious blows on the possessions of the Ottoman Empire in the Black Sea region.

Acknowledgements
The study was funded by Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no 20-09-42015.

Received: 15.01.2022.

Citation
Kochegarov K. A. Russian-Polish relations before the first Crimean campaign. Alexander Skop’s diplomatic trip to Moscow at the beginning of 1687 // Slavic Almanac. 2022. No. 1–2. P. 12–27 (in Russian). DOI: 10.31168/2073-5731.2022.1-2.1.01