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The US Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration newest proposal to end the conflict in Ukraine. His close connection with Vice President Vance has positioned a key ally of the Euroskeptic VP at the forefront of Donald Trump latest push to settle the conflict.

Before his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or diplomat, and his initial efforts to promote the deal to officials in Europe were described as turbulent.

Driscoll's close ties with Vance, who he attended Yale and shares a personal bond, indicate the resurgence of the non-interventionist VP in talks to resolve the Ukraine war.

Vance's Involvement in Ceasefire Negotiations

It was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's disastrous initial visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is once again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a swift settlement that local officials have called a surrender.

Following a tumultuous first year in power, international decisions in the White House are said to be influenced by a small group of Trump's key aides, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken supporter of the recent plan, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, together with the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“All objection of the ceasefire plan the White House is developing either misinterprets the framework or misstates some key reality on the ground,” Vance stated.

Initial Efforts and EU Reactions

Vance's initial efforts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were angered by his initial remarks, in which he accused them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and conservative views close to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the recently published peace deal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the agreement in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a peace framework that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to produce a truce that respected Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to both sides, and stop the war from restarting.

“A ceasefire will not be made by unsuccessful diplomats or officials residing in a fantasy land,” he added. “It could be made by smart people operating in the real world.”

Additionally, it was Vance who continued on the introduction of the peace plan in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his staff with securing a signature on the peace deal before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Response and Internal Doubts

Vance's stance was a notably more enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the administration who has gone from a shaky stature inside the administration to more stable standing.

Rubio was a member of a US team that went to Geneva this weekend to confer with Ukrainian leaders to help refine the initial 28-point peace plan in order to make it more acceptable to leaders in Kyiv.

But, his initial response to the agreement was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough exchange of substantive and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “Furthermore, achieving a durable ceasefire will require both sides to agree to challenging but essential compromises. That is why we are and will continue to create a list of potential solutions for resolving this war drawing from feedback from both sides of this war.”

In private, he was said to be much more skeptical of the plan. The Republican senator Mike Rounds stated last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted legislators to clarify that the agreement was merely a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an plan advocated by the administration.

“Rubio made a phone call to us this afternoon and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was presented to one of our officials,” stated Rounds. “The document is not our suggestion, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he later stated. “The framework is offered as a solid framework for ongoing negotiations. The proposal is derived from input from the Moscow. However, it is additionally informed by previous and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”