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America's Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an unlikely diplomat for the Trump administration latest initiative to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Driscoll's close relationship with JD Vance has placed a key ally of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the forefront of Donald Trump latest push to conclude the war.

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

Driscoll's strong ties with Vance, with whom he attended Yale and shares a close friendship, indicate the resurgence of the non-interventionist vice-president in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine war.

Vance's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

It was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's rocky initial visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is again pushing back against pressure from the US to agree to a swift deal that local officials have described as a surrender.

Following a tumultuous initial year in power, international decisions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a small group of Trump's top aides, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

Vance has been a vocal supporter of the recent proposal, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, together with the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every objection of the peace framework the administration is developing either misunderstands the proposal or misstates some key reality on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Initial Attempts and EU Responses

Vance's initial efforts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also seeking to renew relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were irritated by his initial speeches, in which he accused them of ignoring their voters, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and conservative positions close to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the new peace deal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful spokespeople for the deal in the government, even as the US has been criticized for endorsing a peace framework that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In posts this past weekend, Vance asserted that a ceasefire agreement would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to both sides, and prevent the war from restarting.

“Peace will not be made by unsuccessful diplomats or politicians living in a dream world,” he added. “An agreement could be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who followed up on the introduction of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his team with securing a agreement on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction 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 hawk in the government who has gone from a uncertain stature inside the White House to more stable footing.

Rubio was part of a US team that traveled to Geneva this weekend to confer with Ukrainian leaders to help moderate the initial 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more palatable to leaders in Kyiv.

But, his first response to the deal was lukewarm:

“Ending a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive discussion of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “And, achieving a durable ceasefire will require both sides to consent to difficult but necessary concessions. This is the reason we are and will persist to develop a list of potential solutions for ending this war drawing from input from each party of this war.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be much more doubtful of the plan. The Republican senator Mike Rounds stated recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to explain that the agreement was just a initial offer from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the White House.

“The Secretary did make a call to us this afternoon and I think he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was presented to one of our officials,” stated Rounds. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “It is presented as a strong framework for continuing discussions. It is derived from feedback from the Russian side. But, it is additionally informed by previous and current contributions from Ukraine.”