Prince Alexander Andreyevich Bezborodko was the chancellor of the Russian Empire from 1797 to 1799, and the chief architect of Catherine the Great's foreign policy after the death of Nikita Panin.

Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin was an influential Russian statesman and political mentor to Catherine the Great for the first 18 years of her reign (1762–1780). In that role, he advocated the Northern Alliance, closer ties with Frederick the Great of Prussia and the establishment of an advisory privy council. His staunch opposition to the partitions of Poland led to his being replaced by the more compliant Prince Bezborodko. Catherine appointed many men to the Senate who were related to Panin's powerful family.