The article deals with the real diplomatic aims of the Great embassy (Velikoe posol’stvo, VP) which were not fully disclosed in the official documents and remained a mystery. We could identify the goals that the «core of the VP» sought to achieve, on the one hand, and the objectives of the pantlers who travelled to the south and the lord steward, B. P. Sheremetev, on the other. It has become evident that the presence of the VP as an observer on the Rijswik Congress was not a random event. We show what was the result of this action for Russia.
