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The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration newest proposal to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's close connection with Vice President Vance has placed a key ally of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the center of President Trump's recent effort to conclude the war.

Prior to his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or statesman, and his early attempts to promote the agreement to officials in Europe were described as turbulent.

Driscoll's close ties with Vance, who he studied and shares a personal bond, signal the rising influence of the non-interventionist VP in talks to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

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

Following a chaotic first year in power, international decisions in the White House are said to be shaped by a handful of Trump's top aides, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken advocate of the recent plan, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, alongside 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 situation on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Early Attempts and EU Responses

Vance's early efforts at hammering out a peace deal with Russia, while also seeking to renew ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he accused them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and conservative positions similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the new ceasefire proposal mirrored his positions, 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 endorsing a peace framework that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In posts this past weekend, Vance asserted that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to both sides, and stop the conflict from restarting.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by unsuccessful negotiators or officials residing in a dream world,” he continued. “It might be made by intelligent people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who followed up on the introduction of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his staff with obtaining a signature on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Internal Doubts

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

However, his initial reaction to the deal was tepid:

“Ending a complex and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive discussion of substantive and realistic ideas,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, achieving a lasting peace will require each party to agree to difficult but essential compromises. That is why we are and will persist to develop a set of potential ideas for resolving this conflict drawing from input from both sides of this war.”

Behind closed doors, he was reportedly much more doubtful of the plan. The Republican senator Mike Rounds said recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted legislators to clarify that the agreement was merely a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the White House.

“Rubio did make a phone call to us this day and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was presented to one of our representatives,” stated Rounds. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he later wrote. “It is presented as a strong structure for continuing negotiations. The proposal is derived from input from the Moscow. However, it is also based on previous and current contributions from Ukraine.”