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America's Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an unlikely diplomat for the White House's newest proposal to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's close relationship with JD Vance has positioned a key ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the forefront of President Trump's recent effort to settle the conflict.

Prior to his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or diplomat, and his early attempts to promote the agreement to European policymakers were labeled turbulent.

Driscoll's strong relationship with Vance, with whom he attended Yale and maintains a personal bond, indicate the rising influence of the non-interventionist VP in talks to end the Ukraine war.

Vance's Role in Peace Negotiations

This was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's disastrous first trip to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is once again resisting demands from the US to accept a swift settlement that local officials have described as a surrender.

After a tumultuous first year in power, international decisions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a handful of Trump's key aides, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken supporter of the recent proposal, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, together with the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every criticism of the ceasefire plan the administration is working on either misunderstands the proposal or misstates some critical reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Efforts and EU Responses

Vance's initial efforts at hammering out 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 early remarks, 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 supporters.

However, the recently published peace deal closely resembled his stances, and he has been one of the most forceful spokespeople for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a peace framework that largely echoes 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 sovereignty, be agreeable to both sides, and prevent the war from restarting.

“Peace won’t be made by failed diplomats or politicians residing in a dream world,” he continued. “An agreement might be made by smart people living in the real world.”

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his staff with obtaining a signature on the peace deal before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Internal Doubts

Vance's stance was a distinctly more full-throated endorsement of the plan than that given by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hardliner in the government who has gone from a uncertain 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 moderate the original 28-point peace plan in order to make it more acceptable to authorities in Kyiv.

But, his first response to the agreement was lukewarm:

“Ending a complicated and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough discussion of substantive and realistic proposals,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “And, securing a lasting ceasefire will necessitate each party to agree to difficult but necessary compromises. That is why we are and will persist to develop a set of potential solutions for resolving this conflict based on feedback from each party of this war.”

Behind closed doors, 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 legislators to explain that the deal was merely a preliminary offer from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the White House.

“The Secretary made a phone call to us this day and I think he made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a offer that was presented to one of our representatives,” stated Rounds. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio acted swiftly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he subsequently stated. “The framework is presented as a strong structure for continuing discussions. It is derived from input from the Russian side. However, it is also informed by previous and current contributions from Ukraine.”