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The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration newest proposal to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's strong relationship with JD Vance has positioned a key ally of the Eurosceptic VP at the center of Donald Trump recent push to conclude the war.

Before his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or diplomat, and his initial efforts to sell the deal to European policymakers were described as chaotic.

His close relationship with Vance, with whom he studied and shares a personal bond, signal the resurgence of the non-interventionist VP in talks to end the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Role in Peace Negotiations

This was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky initial trip to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is once again resisting demands from the US to accept a quick settlement that local officials have described as a capitulation.

After a chaotic initial year in office, foreign policy decisions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a small group of Trump's key advisers, such as top aide Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“All criticism of the ceasefire plan the White House is working on either misinterprets the proposal or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Initial Attempts and European Reactions

Vance's initial attempts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also seeking to renew ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, in turn, were irritated by his initial remarks, in which he charged them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and right-leaning views close to those of Trump's own supporters.

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

In posts this weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a truce that respected Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to both sides, and stop the war from resuming.

“A ceasefire will not be made by unsuccessful diplomats or politicians living in a dream world,” he added. “It might be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the peace plan in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly instructed his team with obtaining a signature on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Private Concerns

Vance's stance was a notably more enthusiastic support of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the administration who has gone from a shaky position inside the White House to more stable standing.

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

However, his initial response to the deal was lukewarm:

“Stopping a complicated and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough discussion of serious and realistic proposals,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “Furthermore, securing a lasting peace will necessitate both sides to agree to challenging but essential compromises. This is the reason we are and will persist to create a list of possible ideas for resolving this conflict drawing from feedback from both sides of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be much more skeptical of the proposal. The Republican senator Mike Rounds said recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to clarify that the deal was just a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an plan advocated by the administration.

“The Secretary did make a phone 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. “The document is not our suggestion, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he later wrote. “It is offered as a solid structure for ongoing discussions. The proposal is derived from input from the Russian side. But, it is also informed by previous and current contributions from Ukraine.”