At the same time, the doctrine of the "Third Rome" was formed in Moscow, and the Muscovite princes began to actively "collect Russian lands" that had previously been part of Kievan Rus'.

[4] In the summer of 1482, Prince Ivan III of Russia sent an embassy, valuable gifts, and a considerable sum of money to the Crimean Khan Meñli I Giray in an attempt to make him attack the Ukrainian lands.

At the same time, in the 1480s, a number of raids by Moscow detachments took place on the border territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russia and Samogitia[citation needed].

In 1492–1494, concluding a new alliance with the Crimean Khan, Moscow made a number of joint campaigns in the Kiev, Podillya, Volyn, and Chernihiv regions.

In addition, the Grand Duke of Lithuania (since 1492) Alexander Jagiellon married Ivan III's daughter Elena.