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America's Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the White House's latest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's strong relationship with JD Vance has placed a close associate of the Euroskeptic VP at the forefront of Donald Trump latest push to settle the conflict.

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

His close relationship with Vance, with whom he studied and shares a close friendship, indicate the rising influence of the isolationist vice-president in talks to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Involvement in Peace Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous initial visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is again resisting demands from the US to agree to a quick settlement that Ukrainian leaders have called a capitulation.

After a tumultuous first year in office, international actions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a small group of Trump's key aides, such as top aide Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“Every objection of the ceasefire plan the administration is working on either misinterprets the framework or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Attempts and EU Responses

Vance's early attempts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while also attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were irritated by his initial speeches, in which he charged them of running from their voters, who Vance said held anti-immigration and right-leaning views similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the recently published peace deal mirrored 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 accepting a peace framework that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In posts this past weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to produce a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to both sides, and stop the conflict from restarting.

“Peace won’t be made by unsuccessful diplomats or politicians residing in a dream world,” he added. “An agreement 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 phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his staff with securing a agreement on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Private Doubts

That was a notably more full-throated support of the proposal 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 uncertain position inside the administration to more stable standing.

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

However, his initial reaction to the deal was lukewarm:

“Ending a complicated and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive discussion of serious and realistic ideas,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “Furthermore, achieving a lasting peace will require both sides to consent to challenging but essential compromises. This is the reason we are and will persist to develop a set of possible ideas for resolving this war based on input from each party of this conflict.”

In private, he was reportedly much more doubtful of the proposal. The Republican senator Mike Rounds stated last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called legislators to explain that the agreement was just a initial offer from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the administration.

“The Secretary 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,” stated Rounds. “The document is not our suggestion, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he subsequently stated. “It is presented as a strong framework for ongoing discussions. It is derived from input from the Russian side. But, it is additionally informed by previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”