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The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration newest initiative to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's close relationship with JD Vance has positioned a key ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the forefront of Donald Trump latest effort to settle the war.

Before his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or statesman, and his early attempts to promote the deal to officials in Europe were described as turbulent.

His strong ties with Vance, with whom he attended Yale and shares a personal bond, signal the rising influence of the isolationist vice-president in negotiations to end the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous first visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a swift settlement that local officials have described as a surrender.

Following a tumultuous first year in office, foreign policy actions in the White House are said to be shaped by a small group of Trump's key advisers, including top aide Susie Wiles, conservative advisor Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

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

“All objection of the peace framework the administration is developing either misunderstands the proposal or misstates some critical reality on the ground,” Vance stated.

Early Attempts and European Reactions

Vance's initial attempts at hammering out a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously seeking to restore ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, in turn, were irritated by his early speeches, in which he accused them of ignoring their voters, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and right-leaning positions similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the recently published peace deal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive spokespeople for the agreement in the government, even as the US has been criticized for endorsing a peace framework that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

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

“Peace won’t be made by unsuccessful diplomats or officials living in a fantasy land,” he continued. “An agreement could be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who followed up on the introduction of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his team with obtaining a signature on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Private Doubts

Vance's stance was a notably more full-throated support of the plan than that expressed by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hardliner in the administration who has gone from a shaky stature inside the White House to more stable standing.

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

However, his initial response to the deal was tepid:

“Stopping a complicated and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough discussion of serious and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio stated recently. “And, securing a lasting peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but essential concessions. This is the reason we are and will continue to develop a set of potential solutions for ending this conflict based on input from both sides of this war.”

Behind closed doors, he was reportedly much more skeptical of the proposal. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds said last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted lawmakers to clarify that the deal was just a preliminary offer from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the administration.

“Rubio made a phone call to us this day and I believe he made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was presented to one of our officials,” stated Rounds. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “It is presented as a solid framework for ongoing discussions. It is based on input from the Moscow. But, it is also informed by earlier and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”