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The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the White House's latest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's strong relationship with JD Vance has placed a key ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the center of Donald Trump recent effort to conclude the war.

Prior to his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or statesman, and his early attempts to promote the deal to European policymakers were described as chaotic.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, who he studied and shares a close friendship, indicate the resurgence of the non-interventionist vice-president in negotiations to end the Ukraine war.

Vance's Involvement in Peace Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky first visit to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is again resisting pressure from the US to accept a quick settlement that local officials have described as a capitulation.

Following a chaotic initial year in office, foreign policy decisions in the White House are said to be influenced by a handful of Trump's key aides, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course 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 Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every criticism of the ceasefire plan the administration is working on either misunderstands the framework or misstates some key situation on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Early Efforts and European Reactions

Vance's initial attempts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also attempting to restore ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, meanwhile, were irritated by his early remarks, in which he charged them of running from their voters, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and conservative views close to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the recently published peace deal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful spokespeople for the agreement in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a ceasefire plan that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist terms.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a truce that respected Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to both sides, and prevent the conflict from resuming.

“Peace will not be made by failed diplomats or officials living in a dream world,” he continued. “An agreement could be made by intelligent people living in the real world.”

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his staff with obtaining a signature on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Response and Private Concerns

Vance's stance was a notably more enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal than that given by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the government who has transitioned from a shaky stature inside the White House to more firm standing.

Rubio was a member of a US delegation that traveled to Geneva this past weekend to meet with Ukrainian officials to help moderate the initial 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more acceptable to leaders in Kyiv.

But, his initial reaction to the deal was lukewarm:

“Ending a complex and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough exchange of substantive and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “And, securing a durable peace will necessitate each party to agree to challenging but essential concessions. This is the reason we are and will persist to create a list of potential ideas for ending this war drawing from input from both sides of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be much more skeptical of the proposal. The Republican senator Mike Rounds said recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to clarify that the agreement was merely a initial offer from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the White House.

“The Secretary made a call to us this afternoon and I believe he made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a offer that was delivered to one of our officials,” stated Rounds. “It is not our suggestion, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he later wrote. “The framework is presented as a strong framework for continuing negotiations. It is based on input from the Moscow. But, it is also informed by previous and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”