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America's Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration latest proposal to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Driscoll's close relationship with Vice President Vance has placed a close associate of the Eurosceptic VP at the forefront of Donald Trump recent effort to settle the war.

Before his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or diplomat, and his early attempts to promote the agreement to European policymakers were labeled turbulent.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, who he studied and maintains a close friendship, signal the resurgence of the isolationist vice-president in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine war.

Vance's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

It was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous first visit to the White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is again resisting demands from the US to agree to a quick settlement that local officials have described as a capitulation.

After a tumultuous initial year in office, foreign policy actions in the White House are said to be influenced by a small group of Trump's key aides, including top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a vocal advocate of the recent plan, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, alongside the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“All objection of the peace framework the administration is working on either misinterprets the framework or misrepresents some critical situation on the ground,” Vance stated.

Early Efforts and EU Responses

Vance's early efforts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while also attempting to renew ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, meanwhile, were angered by his initial remarks, in which he accused them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and conservative views close to those of Trump's own supporters.

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 criticized for endorsing a ceasefire plan that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance asserted that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a truce that honored Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to each party, and stop the war from restarting.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by failed negotiators or officials residing in a dream world,” he continued. “An agreement could be made by intelligent people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who continued on the presentation of the peace plan in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his team with securing a signature on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Response and Internal Concerns

That was a notably more enthusiastic endorsement of the plan than that given by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the administration who has transitioned from a uncertain position inside the White House to more firm footing.

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

But, his initial reaction to the deal was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and violent war such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of serious and realistic proposals,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “And, 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 develop a set of potential solutions for ending this conflict drawing from input from each party of this war.”

In private, he was said to be much more doubtful of the plan. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called legislators to explain that the agreement was merely a initial proposal from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the White House.

“Rubio did make a call to us this afternoon and I believe 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 moved quickly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he later wrote. “The framework is presented as a solid structure for ongoing negotiations. It is based on feedback from the Russian side. However, it is also informed by previous and current contributions from Ukraine.”