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. At this time, however, numerous Circassians around the Kuban and even Kalmyks had already been expelled to Ottoman lands as the Russians had swept them up in their systematic deportation of Nogais, with British newspapers reporting that Russian forces were forcing a choice of either the Ottoman Empire or Siberia on resident Nogai and Circassian populations, with 18,000-20,000 Circassians and Nogais ended up packed densely together outside the cities of Istanbul and Üsküdar.