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The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration newest proposal to end the conflict in Ukraine. His close relationship with JD Vance has positioned a close associate of the Euroskeptic VP at the center of President Trump's latest effort to settle the conflict.

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

His strong ties with Vance, who he studied and maintains a close friendship, signal the rising influence of the isolationist vice-president in negotiations to end the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Involvement in Ceasefire Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's disastrous first visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is again pushing back against pressure from the US to accept a swift settlement that Ukrainian leaders have described as a capitulation.

Following a chaotic first year in power, foreign policy actions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a handful of Trump's key advisers, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“All objection of the ceasefire plan the White House is working on either misinterprets the proposal or misstates some key situation on the ground,” the VP stated.

Initial Efforts and EU Reactions

Vance's early efforts at hammering out a peace deal with Russia, while also attempting to restore ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. European officials, meanwhile, were angered by his initial remarks, in which he charged them of ignoring their voters, who Vance said held restrictionist and conservative views similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the recently published peace deal mirrored his stances, and he has been one of the most assertive spokespeople for the deal in the government, even as the US has been under fire for endorsing a peace framework that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to establish a ceasefire that respected Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to both sides, and stop the war from resuming.

“A ceasefire will not be made by unsuccessful negotiators or officials living in a fantasy land,” he added. “It might be made by intelligent people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who continued on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly tasked his staff with obtaining a agreement on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Private Concerns

That was a notably more enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal than that given by the secretary of state and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hardliner in the government who has transitioned from a shaky position inside the White House to more firm footing.

Rubio was a member of a US delegation that went to Geneva this 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.

But, his initial response to the agreement was tepid:

“Stopping a complex and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough discussion of serious and realistic proposals,” Rubio wrote recently. “And, achieving a durable ceasefire will necessitate each party to consent to difficult but necessary compromises. That is why we are and will continue to create a list of potential solutions for resolving this conflict drawing from input from each party of this war.”

Behind closed doors, he was reportedly much more doubtful of the plan. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to explain that the agreement was merely a preliminary offer from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the White House.

“The Secretary did make a call to us this day 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,” said Rounds. “The document is not our suggestion, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “It is offered as a solid structure for continuing discussions. It is derived from input from the Moscow. But, it is additionally based on earlier and current input from Ukraine.”