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The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an unlikely diplomat for the White House's latest initiative to end the conflict in Ukraine. His strong relationship with Vice President Vance has placed a close associate of the Euroskeptic VP at the center of President Trump's recent push to conclude the war.

Before his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or diplomat, and his initial attempts to promote the deal to officials in Europe were labeled chaotic.

Driscoll's close ties with Vance, who he studied and shares a close friendship, signal the resurgence of the isolationist VP in talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

This was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's rocky initial visit to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is again resisting pressure from the US to agree to a swift settlement that local officials have called a capitulation.

Following a tumultuous first year in power, international decisions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a handful of Trump's top advisers, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, State Department head 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, together with the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“All objection of the ceasefire plan the White House is working on either misunderstands the proposal or misstates some key reality on the ground,” Vance stated.

Initial Attempts and EU Reactions

Vance's early attempts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. European officials, in turn, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he accused them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and conservative views similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the new ceasefire proposal mirrored his stances, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the deal in the government, even as the US has been under fire for accepting a peace framework that largely resembles 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 independence, be agreeable to both sides, and prevent the war from restarting.

“Peace will not be made by failed negotiators or officials residing in a dream world,” he continued. “It could be made by smart people operating in the real world.”

It was Vance who continued on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his staff with obtaining a agreement on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Response and Private Concerns

Vance's stance was a distinctly more enthusiastic support of the plan than that expressed by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a shaky stature inside the White House to more stable standing.

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

But, his initial reaction to the deal was tepid:

“Stopping a complicated and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive exchange of substantive and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “Furthermore, securing a lasting peace 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 solutions for resolving this conflict drawing from input from both sides of this conflict.”

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

“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 delivered to one of our officials,” said Rounds. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he later wrote. “It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing discussions. The proposal is derived from feedback from the Moscow. But, it is additionally based on previous and current input from Ukraine.”