 The Russians rejected the Circassian proposal.Those chiefs refused Russian proposals to move their people out of their ancestral lands.In 1859, three years before the approval of the plan by the Russian government, Russian officials began talks with the Ottomans about the migration of a limited number of emigrants, and in 1860 the two sides negotiated a treaty for the migration of 40,000-50,000 Circassians, with the Ottoman side being eager for an increase in population.