In 1747, he was accredited to Copenhagen as Russian minister, but a few months later was transferred to Stockholm, where for the next 12 years he played a conspicuous part as the chief opponent of the French party.

Politically, he was a pupil of Alexey Bestuzhev-Ryumin; consequently, when in the middle 1750s, Russia suddenly turned Francophile instead of Francophobe, Panin's position became extremely difficult.

Also, his jealousy of the influence which Grigory Orlov and his brothers seemed likely to obtain over the new empress predisposed him to favor the proclamation of his ward the grand duke Paul as emperor, with Catherine as regent only.

To circumscribe the influence of the ruling favorites, he next suggested the formation of a cabinet council of six or eight ministers, through whom all the business of the state was to be transacted, but Catherine, suspecting in the skillfully presented novelty a subtle attempt to limit her power, rejected it after some hesitation.

Panin was the inventor of the famous Northern Accord, which aimed at opposing a combination of Russia, Prussia, Poland, Sweden, and perhaps Great Britain, against the Bourbon-Habsburg League.

For a long time, he could not endure the thought of destroying her, because he regarded her as an indispensable member of his accord, wherein she was to replace Austria, which circumstances had temporarily detached from the Russian alliance.

He firmly guaranteed the integrity of Polish territory, after placing Stanisław II on the throne, so Poland, undivided and as strong as circumstances would permit, might be drawn wholly within the orbit of Russia.

Panin further incensed Catherine by meddling with the marriage arrangements of the grand duke Paul and by advocating a closer alliance with Prussia, whereas the empress was beginning to incline more and more towards Austria.

The final rupture seems to have arisen on the question of the declaration of the armed neutrality of the North, but it is known that Grigory Potemkin and the British ambassador, James Harris, had both been working against him some time before that.