This closure was a part of Napoleon's continuing efforts to establish the Continental System, strengthening economic ties between the different countries in Europe under French domination.

On 26 October 1807, Emperor of all the Russias Alexander formally declared war on the United Kingdom after the British attack on Copenhagen in September 1807.

He did not actively prosecute the war; Alexander instead restricted Russia's contribution to the bare requirement to close off trade.

The official news did not arrive in Britain until 2 December, at which point the British authorities declared an embargo on all Russian vessels in British-controlled ports.

The crews of approximately 70 British ships profited from the seizure of the 44-gun Russian frigate Speshnoy, which was lying at anchor in Portsmouth Harbour.

He set sail from Corfu on 19 September and although he planned to proceed directly to Saint Petersburg, stormy weather forced him to take refuge in the Tagus river and cast anchor in Lisbon on 30 October.

With a French army approaching the city, Prince Regent John VI of Portugal had fled to the Portuguese colony of Brazil and the Royal Navy blockaded Lisbon, intercepting a Russian sloop as an enemy vessel because the Anglo-Russian War had been declared.

In August 1808, British forces under the command of Arthur Wellesley defeated the French army at Vimeiro, expelling them from Portugal.

Senyavin maintained his neutrality, threatening to blow up his ships and destroy Lisbon in the case of an attack made against his squadron.

Eventually, he signed a convention with Admiral Sir Charles Cotton, whereby the Royal Navy would escort his squadron to London, with the Russians still flying their flags.

The Lord Mayor of London, Charles Flower, argued that the convention was "disreputable for Britain's prestige", which many in the Admiralty agreed with.

The Swedes massed a fleet under Admiral Rudolf Cederström, consisting of 11 line-of-battle ships and 5 frigates at Örö and Jungfrusund to oppose them.

On 22 August, the Russian fleet, consisting of nine ships of the line, five large frigates and six smaller ones, moved from Hanko to threaten the Swedes.

[9] On 7 and 8 July 1809, the boats of Prometheus, Implacable, Bellerophon and Melpomene captured or destroyed several Russian gunboats and a convoy off Hanko Peninsula in the Baltic.

Sweden sued for peace with France in 1810 and then formally joined the blockade against Britain as required by the Continental System, although in practice did little to enforce it.

Boats from Nyaden also captured some 22–23 coastal trading vessels in the Kola River, many upriver from the present city of Murmansk.

The Times reported that this was the first British engagement in Russian territory, news of the actions on Kildin Island either being subsumed or overlooked.

[18] Then on 1 August 1811, the frigate Alexandria, which was operating out of the Lieth station, captured the Russian vessels Michael, Ivan Isasima, and St. Oluff, and their cargoes.

One of the officers, William Monteith, accompanied Abbas Mirza on his unsuccessful campaign in Georgia and then commanded a frontier force and the garrison of Erivan.

He allowed Russians to continue secretly to trade with Britain and did not enforce the blockade required by Continental System.

A month later Alexander secured his southern flank by the Treaty of Bucharest (1812), which formally ended the war against Turkey.