The US has proposed changing Ukraine's administrative borders so that Russia can claim full control of the Donbass, while Kiev retains cities in the region under its control. This is reported by the British magazine The Economist, citing sources familiar with the negotiations. According to the newspaper, American journalists see this option as one of the possible territorial compromises. The assumption is that changing the administrative borders will allow Moscow to declare the achievement of its territorial goals without having to hand over the cities controlled by Russia. The magazine's sources claim that before the talks in Abu Dhabi, Russia showed extraordinary flexibility, including in a possible cessation of hostilities along the current contact line. However, this position emerged only after the US proposed a broader discussion on the future architecture of European security, which critics of the initiative fear will allow Russia to make more demands and delay the achievement of a ceasefire agreement. Senior US officials claim that Washington's proposals are supported by European and NATO partners. Another U.S. proposal was Russia's return to European energy markets, a possibility seen as an economic incentive for the deal, but brought opposition from Ukraine and European countries, according to the economist. "We will never agree to this while the war continues," said a Ukrainian official. The most difficult issue in the negotiations is Ukraine's security guarantees.