On March 21, 1851, the Tsarist government appointed Duke Alexander Menshikov as a special envoy and sent him to Constantinople to negotiate with the Ottoman government.
The diplomatic world erupted at the news. Duke Alexander Menshikov had served as Governor-General of Finland, commanded wars against Persia and the Ottoman Empire, and held the posts of Commander of the Black Sea Fleet and Minister of the Navy.
As a core figure within the Tsarist ruling clique, Duke Alexander Menshikov's appointment as special envoy was enough to show just how seriously Russia took the matter.
This degree of attention seemed to send a message to the outside world: the Russians wanted to resolve the issue through negotiations.
Yet considering that Duke Menshikov was a member of the war faction and had commanded the previous Russo-Turkish War, it also seemed like a show of force aimed at the Ottomans.
Before setting out for Constantinople, Duke Menshikov first went to Bessarabia to inspect the troops stationed there, then traveled to Sevastopol to inspect the Black Sea Fleet.
Russia even conducted a landing exercise, with Constantinople as its unmistakable target. Only after the exercise concluded did Duke Menshikov board the warship Thor on March 12 and sail for Constantinople.
Menshikov was not a qualified diplomat. He himself despised diplomacy and etiquette, and as a pillar of the war faction, he opposed every compromise and concession toward the Ottoman Empire.
Franz did not think highly of these Constantinople negotiations. The Russians' appetite was so enormous—could the Ottoman Empire really still compromise?
While the Russians negotiated with the Ottoman government, the Austrian Foreign Ministry was not idle either. Diplomatic negotiations with the Ottoman Empire had likewise begun, though Franz attached no importance to them and directly authorized Mestsel, the minister stationed in Constantinople, to handle them.
Schönbrunn