It is only in 1856 the Great Powers reopen the question of Bessarabia again, after the defeat of Russia in the Crimean War. During the Vienna Conference of 1855, the problem of Bessarabia was not found on the negociations. At the end of 1855, at the initiative of Austria, that Southern Bessarabia be ceded to the Principality of Moldavia. It was intended to remove Russia from any connection with the Danube. At the end of December 1855, Valentin Esterhazy presented the peace terms to the Petersburg cabinet. Among them was the cession of southern Bessarabia, Russia accepting the conditions on 15 January 1856. The Russian diplomacy proposed an exchange: the fortress of Kars for southern Bessarabia. This solution was not supported by Austria and the United Kingdom. At the Paris Congress (February-March 1856), no agreement could be reached in the question of Bessarabia. Russia demanded the city of Bolgrad, the administrative center of the Bulgarian colonies in Bessarabia, and France supported this idea. During the year of 1856, Austria maintained its position, Bolgrad must be ceded to the Moldavian Principality. However, the Vienna cabinet acted within the limits of the Paris Treaty. The problem of the southern Bessarabia has been resolved in the time of Paris Conference in january 1857.