Czar Nicholas felt that because of Russian assistance in suppressing the Hungarian revolution of 1848, Austria would side with him or at the very least remain neutral. Austria, however, felt threatened by the Russian troops in the Balkans. On 27 February 1854, the United Kingdom and France demanded the withdrawal of Russian forces from the principalities. Austria supported them and, without declaring war on Russia, refused to guarantee its neutrality.

Russia soon withdrew its troops from the Danubian Principalities, which were then occupied by Austria for the duration of the war. That removed the original grounds for war, but the British and the French continued with hostilities. Determined to address the Eastern Question by putting an end to the Russian threat to the Ottomans, the allies in August 1854 proposed the "Four Points" for ending the conflict in addition to the Russian withdrawal:

1. Russia was to give up its protectorate over the Danubian Principalities.
2. The Danube was to be opened up to foreign commerce.
3. The Straits Convention of 1841, which allowed only Ottoman and Russian warships in the Black Sea, was to be revised.
4. Russia was to abandon any claim granting it the right to interfere in Ottoman affairs on behalf of Orthodox Christians.

Those points, particularly the third, would require clarification through negotiations, which Russia refused. The allies, including Austria, therefore agreed that Britain and France should take further military action to prevent further Russian aggression against the Ottomans. Britain and France agreed on the invasion of the Crimean Peninsula as the first step.