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"It is imperative to end this war and begin the process of rebuilding. Diplomacy ... Is the only path to a durable and just peace," said Michael Waltz, the country’s permanent representative to the UN.

"Colleagues," he said, addressing the room, "the bottom line is, the cost to all sides has been devastating and it is beyond time for this war to end, and I hope we would all agree that this war will not end militarily. Russia and Ukraine's leaders must negotiate. Both Russia and Ukraine must accept a ceasefire.”

He didn’t refer to Donald Trump by name, but said the issue has gone to the “highest level” of the U.S. Government.

Russia's permanent representative to the UN, ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, began his remarks by referencing the corruption scandal dogging the Zelenskyy administration, after a major investigation uncovered an alleged $100 million US scheme involving the state nuclear agency.

"I haven't heard anyone in this meeting say a word about that," he said, according to a translation of his remarks.

Ondina Blokar Drobič, a representative for Slovenia on the security council, said the increase in civilian casualties shows Russia is escalating its war against Ukraine.

“There is a clear pattern in Russia's drone warfare. No one is safe from attacks,” she said.

"This clearly underlines the urgent need for a full and unconditional ceasefire.”

Edem Wosornu, director of the Operations and Advocacy Division at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, gave an update on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.

Since the start of the war, she said, nearly six million Ukrainians have become refugees, while another 3.7 million have been displaced from their homes.

Wosornu also called attention to Russia’s pattern of attacks on hospitals and other critical infrastructure. She said the World Health Organization has tracked nearly 500 attacks on health facilities in Ukraine this year alone.

The council just heard from Kayoko Gotoh, the officer in charge of the Europe, Central Asia, and Americas Division at the UN’s Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.

Gotoh said they are concerned over the “alarming increase” in civilian killings in Ukraine in the past year.

In Kyiv, the number of civilian casualties was nearly 3.8 times higher in the first 10 months of 2025 than all of 2024, Gotoh said.

The United Nations Security Council is holding a briefing now on the “maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine.” We’re carrying a livestream of the briefing at the top of this page.

Zelenskyy said he had spoken with U.S. Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll and would be working on points of the proposed peace plan.

"Our teams — Ukraine and the U.S.A. — will work on the points of the plan to end the war. We are ready for constructive, honest and prompt work," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram after the meeting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made an appearance in a video released to Russian media, but he did not speak about the proposed peace plan.

The Kremlin said that Putin had visited the command post of the Russian forces' west grouping where he had met with the chief of Russia's general staff, Valery Gerasimov, and top military brass, Reuters reports.

Putin had been briefed on the situation in Kostiantynivka and Kramatorsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region as well as around Kupyansk in Kharkiv region, the Kremlin said.

Gerasimov told Putin that the Russian forces had taken control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, as well as over 80 per cent of Vovchansk, according to Reuters.

David Michael Lamb

One of the key sticking points in negotiating peace between Russia and Ukraine is about territory in the east.

As recently as last month, Russia repeated its demand that it take control of all of the Donbas region as a condition for peace. At the moment, however, Russia doesn't control all of it, so if that were to happen, Ukraine would be handing over more of its own territory.

Ukraine and the U.S. Have so far opposed that, saying front lines should be frozen where they are now. This dispute is a key reason why Trump cancelled a planned meeting with Putin in Budapest, which was to happen this month. The latest plan, however, signals a change in the U.S.'s position.

Other Russian demands have included a steep reduction of Ukraine's armed forces, and guarantees it will never join NATO.

Aside from the NATO demand, the details of the peace plan appear to grant Russia most or all of what it wants.

"We are ready now, as before, to work constructively with the American side, as well as with our partners in Europe and around the world so that the outcome is peace," a statement published on Telegram said.

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