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America's Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration newest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His strong connection with Vice President Vance has placed a key ally of the Euroskeptic VP at the forefront of President Trump's recent effort to conclude the war.

Before his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or statesman, and his initial attempts to sell the agreement to officials in Europe were described as chaotic.

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

Vance's Involvement in Peace Negotiations

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous initial trip to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is once again resisting demands from the US to accept a swift deal that Ukrainian leaders have called a surrender.

After a tumultuous initial year in power, international decisions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a handful of Trump's top advisers, 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 vocal advocate of the latest plan, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, alongside the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“All criticism of the peace framework the administration is working on either misunderstands the proposal or misstates some key reality on the ground,” Vance wrote.

Early Attempts and EU Reactions

Vance's early efforts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also attempting to restore relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. European officials, in turn, were irritated by his early remarks, in which he charged them of ignoring their voters, who Vance said held restrictionist and conservative views close to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the recently published ceasefire proposal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the deal in the government, even as the US has been under fire for accepting a ceasefire plan that mostly resembles Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a ceasefire that respected Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to each party, and stop the conflict from restarting.

“A ceasefire will not be made by unsuccessful diplomats or officials residing in a fantasy land,” he added. “An agreement might be made by smart people living in the real world.”

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the introduction of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly instructed his staff with securing a agreement on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Internal Doubts

That was a distinctly more full-throated endorsement of the plan than that expressed by the secretary of state and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the administration who has gone from a uncertain stature inside the administration to more firm standing.

Rubio was a member of a US delegation that went to Geneva this weekend to confer with Ukrainian officials to help refine the initial 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more palatable to authorities in Kyiv.

But, his first reaction to the agreement was tepid:

“Ending a complex and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough discussion of substantive and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “Furthermore, securing a durable ceasefire will necessitate each party to consent to difficult but necessary compromises. That is why we are and will continue to create a set of potential ideas for resolving this war drawing from input from both sides of this conflict.”

In private, he was reportedly much more doubtful of the proposal. The Republican senator Mike Rounds said recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted legislators to explain that the deal was just a preliminary offer from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the White House.

“Rubio did make a phone call to us this afternoon and I think he made it very clear to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was delivered to one of our officials,” said Rounds. “The document is not our suggestion, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio acted swiftly to fall in line. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “It is presented as a solid structure for ongoing discussions. The proposal is derived from input from the Russian side. However, it is additionally based on previous and current contributions from Ukraine.”