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The US Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, was an unlikely diplomat for the Trump administration latest proposal to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close relationship with Vice President Vance has positioned a close associate of the Eurosceptic VP at the center of Donald Trump latest push to conclude the conflict.

Prior to his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or diplomat, and his initial attempts to sell the deal to European policymakers were described as turbulent.

His strong relationship with Vance, who he attended Yale and maintains a close friendship, indicate the rising influence of the isolationist VP in negotiations to end the Ukraine war.

Vance's Role in Ceasefire Negotiations

This was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's disastrous initial trip to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is once again resisting demands from the US to agree to a quick settlement that Ukrainian leaders have called a surrender.

Following a chaotic initial year in office, international decisions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a small group of Trump's key aides, including top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken advocate of the recent proposal, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, alongside the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every criticism of the peace framework the administration is working on either misinterprets the framework or misstates some key reality on the ground,” Vance stated.

Initial Attempts and European Reactions

Vance's early attempts at hammering out a peace deal with Russia, while also seeking to restore relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were angered by his early speeches, in which he accused them of running from their voters, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and right-leaning views 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 advocates for the agreement in the government, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a peace framework that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

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

“Peace will not be made by failed negotiators or officials residing in a dream world,” he added. “It might be made by intelligent 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 mainly tasked his team with securing a signature on the peace deal before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Private Concerns

Vance's stance was a distinctly more full-throated support of the proposal than that given by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the administration who has gone from a shaky stature inside the administration to more stable standing.

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

But, his first reaction to the agreement was lukewarm:

“Ending a complicated and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of serious and realistic ideas,” Rubio stated recently. “And, achieving a durable ceasefire will necessitate both sides to consent to difficult but necessary concessions. That is why we are and will persist to create a list of possible ideas for ending this conflict based on input from each party of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be 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 clarify that the deal was merely a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an plan advocated by the administration.

“Rubio did make a phone call to us this afternoon and I think he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a offer that was delivered to one of our officials,” said Rounds. “The document is not our suggestion, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he subsequently stated. “It is offered as a solid structure for continuing discussions. The proposal is based on input from the Russian side. However, it is also informed by earlier and current input from Ukraine.”