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America's Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an unlikely diplomat for the Trump administration latest proposal to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's close connection with JD Vance has placed a key ally of the Euroskeptic VP at the forefront of Donald Trump latest push to settle the conflict.

Before his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or statesman, and his initial efforts to sell the deal to officials in Europe were described as turbulent.

His strong ties with Vance, with whom he studied and maintains a close friendship, indicate the resurgence of the non-interventionist VP in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

It was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's rocky first visit to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is once again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a quick deal that Ukrainian leaders have called a surrender.

Following a tumultuous initial year in power, foreign policy decisions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a small group of Trump's key advisers, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken advocate of the recent plan, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, together with the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every objection of the ceasefire plan the administration is working on either misinterprets the framework or misrepresents some key situation on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Early Efforts and European Responses

Vance's initial attempts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also attempting to renew ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, meanwhile, were irritated by his early remarks, in which he accused them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and conservative positions similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

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

In social media updates this weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to establish a ceasefire that respected Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to both sides, and stop the conflict from restarting.

“Peace won’t be made by failed negotiators or politicians living in a dream world,” he added. “It could be made by smart people operating in the actual situation.”

Additionally, it was Vance who continued on the introduction of the peace plan in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his staff with obtaining a agreement on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Internal Doubts

That was a distinctly more full-throated endorsement of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hardliner in the administration who has gone from a uncertain position inside the administration to more firm standing.

Rubio was part of a US team that went to Geneva this weekend to meet with Ukrainian officials to help refine the initial 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more acceptable to leaders in Kyiv.

However, his initial reaction to the deal was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough discussion of serious and realistic ideas,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “And, achieving a lasting peace will necessitate both sides to consent to difficult but necessary compromises. This is the reason we are and will continue to develop a list of potential ideas for ending this conflict based on feedback from each party of this war.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be much more skeptical of the plan. The Republican senator Mike Rounds said last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted legislators to explain that the deal was just a initial offer from the Russians and not an plan advocated by the White House.

“Rubio made a call to us this day and I think he made it very clear to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was presented to one of our representatives,” said Rounds. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “The framework is offered as a solid structure for continuing negotiations. The proposal is based on input from the Russian side. However, it is also informed by earlier and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”