war. Sazonov objected to any Italian role regarding Constantinople – seeing it as a threat to Russian control of the city promised by the allies in return for Russian losses in the war. This led Grey to obtain formal recognition of the Russian claim to the city by the Committee of Imperial Defence and by France – leading Sazonov to acquiesce to an agreement with Italy, except he would not consent to Italy taking the Adriatic coast south of the city of Split and as long as the Italian troops did not participate in the capture of the Turkish Straits. The request concerning the Turkish Straits was found acceptable by Grey since the British never anticipated Italy would take part in the campaign against the Constantinople. The bulk of the Italian claim, concerning acquisition of Trentino, Trieste, and Istria was likely to attract protests against handing predominantly Slav-populated territories to Italy from Frano Supilo – a dominant figure in the nascent Yugoslav Committee advocating interests of South Slavs living in Austria-Hungary. On the other hand, the Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić and Sazonov found it acceptable. Even though Serbian Niš Declaration of war objectives called for the struggle to liberate and unify "unliberated brothers", referring to "three tribes of one people" meaning the Serbs, the Croats, and the Slovenes, as means to attract support from South Slavs living in Austria-Hungary, Pašić was primarily concerned with achieving a Greater Serbia. Sazonov acquiesced, adding that he has nothing to say on behalf of the Croats and the Slovenes and would not approve Russian forces to fight "half a day" for liberty of the Slovenes. Final six weeks of talks Nonetheless, negotiations extended for six weeks over disagreements as the extent of Italian territorial gains in Dalmatia was still objected to by Sazonov. The Italian claim of Dalmatia to the Neretva River, including the Pelješac Peninsula and all Adriatic islands was not based on self-determination, but on security concerns in a future war – as the Italian negotiators alleged that Russia might occupy the Austrian-controlled coast while Italy had no defensible port on the western shore of the Adriatic. The Committee of Imperial Defence was concerned about rising Russian naval power in the Mediterranean and it is possible, although there is no direct evidence, that this influenced the British support for the Italian claims in the Adriatic – as means to deny it