Treaty of Mozhaysk The Treaty of Mozhaysk ( also Moshaisk or other transliterations of Можайск ) was a Danish - Russian treaty concluded on 7 August 1562 , during the Livonian War . While not an actual alliance , the treaty confirmed the amicable Dano - Russian relation and obliged the parties to not support the other parties in the war , to respect each other ' s claims in Old Livonia , and to grant free passage to each other ' s merchants . By 1562 , Frederick II of Denmark and Ivan IV of Russia were two of several parties claiming superiority rights in Livonia , none of whom was able to decide the conflict for themselves . Instead of engaging in open war , Frederick II and Ivan IV preferred to uphold the long tradition of amicable Dano - Russian relations . The treaty has been noted for the circumstances that a European great power met the Russian tsardom on equal footing , and that no prior military decision forced the parties to conclude it . In practice , the treaty was not wholly implemented . This was in part due to Frederick II ' s limited engagement in Livonia , where his brother Magnus pursued his own policies . In the subsequent war years , while not antagonizing Frederick II , Ivan IV would deal with Magnus directly , eventually making him king of Livonia as his vassal . Livonia in 1562 . In 1562 , during the early stage of the Livonian War , the territory of the present - day states Estonia and Latvia ( then Terra Mariana or Old Livonia ) was contested between Sigismund II Augustus of Poland – Lithuania , Ivan IV " The Terrible " , tsar of Russia , Frederick II of Denmark - Norway and Erik XIV of Sweden . The Livonian Confederation had turned to Poland - Lithuania for protection in the 1557 Treaty of Pozvol , provoking the intervention of Ivan IV who , despite significant territorial gains and the important victory at Ermes ( Ergeme ) , was unable to subordinate all Livonia . The bulk of the disintegrating Livonian Confederation was subordinated to Poland - Lithuania in the Treaty of Vilnius ( 1561 ) , forming the duchies of Livonia and Courland and Semigallia . With Reval ( Tallinn ) accepting Swedish superiority , also in 1561 , Sweden had established a dominon in Estonia despite the protests of Frederick II , who claimed historical rights on the area and had already purchased the Bishopric of Ösel – Wiek in western Estonia . Robert I . Frost has summarized the 1562 state of war as an " uneasy stalemate : " while Denmark , Sweden , Russia and Poland - Lithuania had staked overlapping claims , the local parties of the broken - up Livonian Confederation had at least preliminarily chosen sides and intense fighting had occurred between some of the respective armies , a stable solution was not in sight even if military engagements had waned . Interests of Frederick II , Ivan IV and Magnus . Frederick II focussed on his competition with Erik XIV of Sweden for hegemony in and around the Baltic Sea , which in 1563 culminated into the Northern Seven Years ' War . He had no ambitions to enter a conflict with Ivan IV of Russia , and despite a brief irritation in the context of Christian III ' s occupation of Ösel ( Øsel , Saaremaa ) in 1558 , Dano - Russian relations were amicable and based on a mutual assistance pact of 1493 , renewed in 1506 and 1517 . Ivan IV likewise did not wish a conflict with Frederick II , as he was unable to reach an understanding with the other parties in the Livonian war , Sweden and Poland - Lithuania , and was pressed by Crimean Tartar invasions at his tsardom ' s southern frontier . Frederick II had an uneasy relation to his younger brother Magnus , Duke of Holstein , whom he established in Ösel – Wiek " to be rid " of him . Yet , after Magnus arrived in April 1560 , he immediately started to expand by purchasing the Courlandian Stift Pilten ( Piltene ) and the Estonian bishopric of Reval , and thus by 1561 found himself bankrupt , in conflict with the other parties claiming these territories for themselves , and without any sufficient military means . Magnus turned to his brother ' s court in Copenhagen hoping that Frederick II would abandon his policy of minimal involvement and enter the Livonian conflict on his side . Yet , Frederick II instead restricted Magnus to not conclude treaties without his consent anymore , obliged him to consolidate his finances by himself and assigned a governor for Ösel – Wiek who was to closely monitor Magnus ' activities in Livonia . Treaty . On 6 July 1562 , a group of Danish envoys arrived at Ivan IV ' s court in Moscow . The delegation was headed by Frederick II ' s hofmeister Eiler ( also Eller , Elias ) Hardenberg , and further included Jacob Brokenhusen , Jens Truelsen Ulfstand and Zacharias Vheling . Negotiations lasted only a month , and the treaty was concluded on 7 August in Mozhaysk ( Можайск ) west of Moscow . While the treaty did not contain a new mutual aid pact , The treaty did not contain an expiry date . Significance . In historiography , the Mozhaysk agreements are regarded as a highly significant treaty . Hübner ( 1998 ) says that " the high significance of this treaty , which has been called a ' milestone in European history , ' for the Muscovite state was not only due to its contents , but also because a European great power was ready to conclude it on the basis of a completely equal status , without a prior military conflict forcing the parties to do so . " However , the parties were unable to draw practical advantages from the treaty . Neither party was able to prevent Swedish forces from intruding and occupying part of their Livonian claims , the Danish and Polish kings agreed on mutual support against Sweden in the Northern Seven Years ' War . Ivan IV delayed the implementation of the free trade agreements and concluded a seven - year truce with Sweden in 1564 . In the following years , Ivan IV focussed on Magnus of Holstein rather than Frederick II , establishing him as the king of Livonia under his vassalage .