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The US Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration latest proposal to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's close relationship with Vice President Vance has placed a close associate of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the forefront of President Trump's recent effort to conclude the war.

Before 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 labeled turbulent.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, with whom he studied and maintains a close friendship, indicate the rising influence of the isolationist VP in negotiations to end the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Role in Ceasefire Negotiations

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

After a chaotic initial year in office, foreign policy actions in the White House are said to be shaped by a handful of Trump's key aides, such as top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken supporter of the recent plan, 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 developing either misunderstands the proposal or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Early Attempts and European Reactions

Vance's early attempts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also seeking to renew ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. European officials, meanwhile, were angered by his initial remarks, in which he accused them of running from their voters, who Vance said held anti-immigration and right-leaning positions similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

However, the recently published peace deal closely resembled his stances, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been under fire for endorsing a ceasefire plan that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance asserted that a ceasefire agreement would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to both sides, and stop the war from resuming.

“Peace will not be made by failed negotiators or politicians residing in a dream world,” he added. “It might be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the introduction of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly tasked his team with obtaining a signature on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Internal Concerns

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

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

However, his first reaction to the deal was lukewarm:

“Ending a complicated and violent war such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough discussion of serious and realistic proposals,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, securing a durable peace will necessitate each party to consent to difficult but necessary compromises. That is why we are and will continue to develop a set of potential solutions for resolving this war drawing from feedback from each party of this war.”

In private, he was said to be much more skeptical 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 deal was just a initial proposal from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the White House.

“The Secretary made a phone call to us this day and I think he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a proposal that was delivered to one of our officials,” said Rounds. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “The framework is presented as a solid structure for ongoing discussions. It is derived from feedback from the Moscow. However, it is also based on previous and current contributions from Ukraine.”