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The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an unlikely diplomat for the Trump administration latest proposal to end the conflict in Ukraine. Driscoll's strong relationship with Vice President Vance has placed a key ally of the Eurosceptic VP at the center of Donald Trump latest push to conclude the war.

Before his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or statesman, and his early attempts to sell the agreement to officials in Europe were described as chaotic.

His close ties with Vance, who he attended Yale and shares a personal bond, indicate the rising influence of the isolationist VP in talks to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Involvement in Ceasefire Negotiations

It was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's rocky first visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is once again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a swift settlement that Ukrainian leaders have called a capitulation.

After a chaotic initial year in power, foreign policy actions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a handful of Trump's key aides, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“All objection of the peace framework the White House is developing either misinterprets the framework or misrepresents some critical reality on the ground,” Vance wrote.

Initial Efforts and EU Responses

Vance's early efforts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also attempting to restore relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were angered by his initial remarks, in which he accused them of ignoring their constituents, who Vance said held restrictionist and right-leaning positions similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the new ceasefire proposal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful spokespeople for the agreement in the government, even as the US has been under fire for endorsing a peace framework that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to establish a truce that respected Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to each party, and stop the conflict from restarting.

“Peace will not be made by failed diplomats or officials living in a dream world,” he continued. “An agreement could be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who continued on the introduction of the peace plan in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his staff with securing a agreement on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Private Doubts

That was a notably more full-throated endorsement of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a shaky stature inside the White House to more firm standing.

Rubio was a member of a US delegation that traveled to Geneva this weekend to confer with Ukrainian leaders to help refine the original 28-point peace plan in order to make it more palatable to authorities in Kyiv.

But, his initial reaction to the deal was tepid:

“Stopping a complex and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of substantive and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio stated recently. “And, securing a durable peace will require each party to consent to challenging but necessary concessions. That is why we are and will persist to develop a list of potential solutions for resolving this war drawing from feedback from each party of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, 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 contacted lawmakers to clarify that the deal was just a preliminary offer from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the White House.

“Rubio did make a phone call to us this afternoon and I believe he made it very clear to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was presented to one of our representatives,” stated Rounds. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he subsequently stated. “The framework is presented as a solid structure for ongoing negotiations. The proposal is derived from feedback from the Russian side. However, it is additionally informed by earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”