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America's Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration latest initiative to end the conflict in Ukraine. His close relationship with JD Vance has positioned a key ally of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the forefront of Donald Trump recent effort to settle the war.

Prior to his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or statesman, and his early attempts to sell the deal to European policymakers were described as chaotic.

Driscoll's close ties with Vance, who he studied and maintains a close friendship, indicate the resurgence of the non-interventionist VP in negotiations to end the Ukraine war.

The VP's Involvement in Ceasefire Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's disastrous first trip to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is once again resisting pressure from the US to agree to a swift settlement that Ukrainian leaders have described as a surrender.

Following a chaotic first year in office, international decisions in the White House are said to be influenced by a handful of Trump's top aides, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“Every criticism of the peace framework the White House is working on either misunderstands the proposal or misrepresents some critical situation on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Initial Efforts and EU Reactions

Vance's early efforts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while also seeking to restore relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were irritated by his initial remarks, in which he accused them of running from their voters, who Vance said held restrictionist and right-leaning views close to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the new peace deal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the deal in the government, even as the US has been under fire for endorsing a peace framework that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance asserted that a ceasefire agreement would have to establish a truce that respected Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to each party, and prevent the war from resuming.

“Peace will not be made by unsuccessful negotiators or politicians residing 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 peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his staff with securing a agreement on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Private Concerns

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

Rubio was part of a US delegation that went to Geneva this weekend to meet with Ukrainian officials to help refine the initial 28-point peace plan in order to make it more acceptable to authorities in Kyiv.

However, his first response to the deal was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive discussion of substantive and realistic ideas,” Rubio stated recently. “And, achieving a lasting peace will necessitate both sides to agree to challenging but essential compromises. This is the reason we are and will continue to create a list of potential ideas for ending this war drawing from feedback from each party of this war.”

Behind closed doors, he was reportedly 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 called legislators to explain that the agreement was merely a preliminary offer from the Russians and not an plan advocated by the White House.

“Rubio made a call to us this day and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a proposal 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. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he subsequently stated. “It is presented as a strong structure for continuing negotiations. The proposal is based on feedback from the Russian side. However, it is also based on earlier and ongoing input from Ukraine.”