, used until the end of the rule of
Nicholas I with
Princess Milica of Montenegro (1889) by
Mikhail Mikeshin Early modern period Owing to
Rákóczi's War of Independence (1703–1711), the position of Serbian militiamen in the
Military Frontier of the
Habsburg monarchy was endangered. In 1704 the first Serbian attempts were made to offer their services to
Imperial Russia in the latter's struggle against the
Ottomans. Prior to the beginning of the
Russo-Turkish War (1710–11) Russian emperor
Peter the Great invited Serbian militiamen and Serbs in general to join the Russian forces. In 1711 the third delegation sent to Russia by
metropolitan Danilo arrived in St. Petersburg. The first Russian delegation to Montenegro arrived on 3 March 1711.
Peter the Great called the Balkan Orthodox to rise up against the Ottomans during the
Pruth River Campaign. In 1715–16, Montenegrin metropolitan
Danilo I travelled to St. Petersburg from where he returned in April 1716 with two diplomas signed by Emperor Peter the Great, the first which obliged the Montenegrins to aid the Russians in case of war with the Ottomans, the second an annual aid of 500 rubels to the
Cetinje Monastery.
Šćepan Mali was an impostor of
Peter III of Russia who sought to rule Montenegro. He supported
Sava Petrović as bishop when the Montenegrin tribes supported
Arsenije Plamenac. During the office of Metropolitan
Petar I, he and
guvernadur Jovan Radonjić were the two head chiefs of Montenegro, one by title, the other according to actual position. The two clashed in international politics: the Metropolitan held to Russia, while Jovan relied on Austria. On the question whether to support Austria or not, the two sides conflicted during the
Austro-Turkish War (1787–1791) and
Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792).
19th century to 1918 The
Russian Empire opened a
consulate in
Kotor in the
Habsburg monarchy in October 1804. It was to serve as "protection of the people of Montenegro and Brda". It was officially recognized by the Austrians that same month. Among active Russian emissaries in Montenegro were Mazurevsky (the deputy) and Marko Ivelić. In 1806, the Russian–Montenegrin force under
Dmitry Senyavin took Kotor, but handed it over to the French. Petar I conceived a plan in 1807 to revive a Serbian Empire ("Slaveno–Serb empire"), which he informed the Russian court. It envisioned Russia as the suzerain; the title of Serbian emperor would be held by the Russian emperor. It was thwarted by the French–Russian peace treaty.
Nicholas I of Montenegro, the last king of Montenegro, exchanged support with the Russian monarchy. In 1868 he undertook a journey to Russia, where he received an affectionate welcome from the
Tsar Alexander II. Two of King Nicholas's daughters were married to Romanov Grand Dukes,
Princess Milica and
Princess Anastasija. Under Nicholas I, Montenegro was an ally of Russia in the
Russo-Japanese War. Volunteers from Montenegro were fighting in the Russian Army. In 2006 Japan recognized Montenegrin independence and declared an end to the war. A peace treaty was signed.
Yugoslav period During that period, Russia and Montenegro were part of the
Soviet Union and
Yugoslavia, respectively.
NATO membership and escalation of tensions ,
President of Russia, and
Filip Vujanović,
President of Montenegro, in Moscow, 2010. A poll in July 2015 from the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights, which received financial support from NATO, found that 36.6 percent supported membership, to 37.3 percent against, with sharp divisions between ethnic groups: 71.2 percent of
Montenegrin Albanians and 68 percent of
Montenegrin Bosniaks supported membership, while only 11.3 percent of
Montenegrin Serbs did. In June 2015, NATO Secretary General
Jens Stoltenberg said that low public support for NATO could affect whether Montenegro was able to join the alliance. In December 2015, the spokesman for Russian president
Vladimir Putin said that Montenegro's accession to NATO was bound to result in "retaliatory actions". In October 2016 a Russian backed group of Serbians plotted to storm the parliament and assassinate Milo Đukanović, the then-prime minister, to mount a
coup with opposition parties and thwart the plan to join NATO. The plot was uncovered and 14 people, including two alleged members of Russian intelligence services were charged, tried and sentenced to long terms in prison. In late April 2017, after the Montenegrin parliament approved the country's accession to the alliance, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement that said the decision to join NATO had been made by means of defying "the will of nearly half the country′s population that comes out against" the accession. A Russian establishment analyst commented that NATO needed Montenegro for launching a
hybrid war and destabilising Europe. Tensions between the countries increased dramatically thereafter, with Montenegro accusing Russia of meddling in its internal affairs and banning entry to specified Russian nationals, including such top Russian officials as
Dmitry Rogozin,
Nikolai Patrushev, and
Ramzan Kadyrov. On 5 June 2017, the day Montenegro formally joined NATO, the Russian foreign ministry said, "In the light of the hostile course chosen by the Montenegrin authorities, the Russian side reserves the right to take retaliatory measures on a reciprocal basis. In politics, just as in physics, for every action there is an opposite reaction."
2022 to date Since the
Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has continued to interfere in Montenegro politics, often through Serbia, where some nationalist Serbs deny the distinct identity and history of the Montenegrin nation and utilising the presence of the Serbian Orthodox Church and Serbian media to promote Russia. Around 13,000 Russian citizens have fled Russia and settled in Montenegro in the first year after the war started and have set up 4,000 businesses. Russians accounted for 40% of real estate sales in early 2022. In July 2022 Montenegro began the process of freezing real estate owned by Russian nationals. In September 2022 Montenegro expelled six Russian diplomats, accusing them of spying and rescinded the visas of twenty eight Russian citizens. In return Russia's embassy in Podgorica was closed. ==Economy==