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The US Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration newest proposal to end the conflict in Ukraine. His strong relationship with JD Vance has positioned a close associate of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the center of Donald Trump latest push to settle the conflict.

Prior to his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or statesman, and his initial efforts to promote the agreement to European policymakers were described as chaotic.

His close ties with Vance, who he studied and maintains a close friendship, indicate the resurgence of the non-interventionist vice-president in negotiations to end the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Role in Peace Efforts

It was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's disastrous first trip to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is again resisting demands from the US to accept a quick settlement that Ukrainian leaders have described as a capitulation.

Following a chaotic initial year in office, foreign policy decisions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a handful of Trump's top aides, including top aide Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“Every objection of the ceasefire plan the administration is working on either misinterprets the proposal or misstates some key reality on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Initial Attempts and EU Reactions

Vance's early attempts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were irritated by his early speeches, in which he charged them of running from their voters, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and conservative views similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the new ceasefire proposal closely resembled his stances, 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 endorsing a ceasefire plan that largely resembles 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 acceptable to both sides, and prevent the war from resuming.

“Peace won’t be made by failed diplomats or politicians living in a dream world,” he continued. “An agreement could be made by intelligent people operating in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who followed up on the introduction of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his staff with securing a signature on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Response and Internal Concerns

Vance's stance was a distinctly more full-throated endorsement of the plan than that given by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hardliner in the government who has gone from a shaky position inside the administration to more stable standing.

Rubio was a member of a US delegation that went to Geneva this weekend to meet with Ukrainian officials to help moderate the original 28-point peace plan in order to make it more palatable to leaders in Kyiv.

However, his initial reaction to the deal was lukewarm:

“Ending a complicated and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough exchange of substantive and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio stated recently. “And, securing a durable peace will require both sides to consent to difficult but necessary concessions. This is the reason we are and will continue to create a list of potential solutions for ending this war based on feedback from each party of this conflict.”

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 legislators to clarify that the agreement was just a initial offer from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the White House.

“The Secretary did make a phone call to us this day and I think he made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a offer that was presented to one of our representatives,” stated Rounds. “It is not our suggestion, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he subsequently stated. “It is offered as a solid framework for continuing negotiations. It is derived from input from the Russian side. However, it is also based on earlier and ongoing input from Ukraine.”