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America's Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, was an unlikely diplomat for the White House's newest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's strong relationship with JD Vance has placed a key ally of the Euroskeptic VP at the forefront of Donald Trump latest push to conclude the conflict.

Prior to his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or statesman, and his early efforts to promote the agreement to officials in Europe were labeled chaotic.

His strong ties with Vance, with whom he studied and shares a personal bond, signal the resurgence of the isolationist vice-president in negotiations to end the Ukraine war.

The VP's Involvement in Peace Efforts

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

Following a chaotic initial year in power, foreign policy actions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a handful of Trump's top aides, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken advocate of the recent plan, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, together with the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

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

Initial Attempts and European Reactions

Vance's early efforts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also seeking to restore ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, in turn, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he accused them of running from their voters, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and right-leaning positions close to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the new ceasefire proposal closely resembled his stances, and he has been one of the most assertive spokespeople for the agreement in the administration, even as the US has been under fire for accepting a peace framework that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In posts this weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to establish a truce that honored Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to each party, and prevent the conflict from restarting.

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

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 agreement on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Private Doubts

Vance's stance was a notably more enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal than that given by the secretary of state and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a uncertain stature inside the White House to more firm standing.

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

However, his initial reaction to the deal was lukewarm:

“Stopping a complex and violent war such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough discussion of substantive and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio wrote recently. “And, securing a lasting peace will necessitate both sides to consent to challenging but essential compromises. That is why we are and will continue to develop a list of possible solutions for resolving this conflict based on feedback from each party of this war.”

In private, he was said to be much more doubtful of the proposal. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds said last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted lawmakers to explain that the deal was merely a initial proposal from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the administration.

“Rubio made a call to us this day and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was delivered to one of our representatives,” said Rounds. “It is not our suggestion, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he later wrote. “The framework is presented as a strong framework for continuing discussions. The proposal is based on input from the Russian side. However, it is additionally informed by earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”