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The US Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration newest proposal to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close connection with Vice President Vance has placed a close associate of the Euroskeptic VP at the forefront of Donald Trump recent effort to conclude the war.

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

His strong ties with Vance, who he attended Yale and shares a personal bond, signal the rising influence of the non-interventionist vice-president in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Involvement in Ceasefire Efforts

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

After a chaotic initial year in office, international decisions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a small group of Trump's key advisers, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

Vance has been a vocal 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 peace framework the administration is working on either misunderstands the proposal or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” Vance wrote.

Early Efforts and European Responses

Vance's early attempts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously seeking to renew relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, meanwhile, were irritated by his initial remarks, in which he charged them of running from their voters, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and right-leaning views close to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the recently published ceasefire proposal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been under fire for accepting a ceasefire plan that mostly resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In posts this past weekend, Vance asserted that a ceasefire agreement would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to each party, and stop the war from resuming.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by failed negotiators or officials living in a dream world,” he added. “It could be made by intelligent people living in the real world.”

Additionally, it was Vance who continued on the introduction of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his team with obtaining a agreement on the peace deal before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Private Concerns

That was a distinctly more full-throated endorsement of the plan than that given by the secretary of state and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the government who has gone from a shaky stature inside the White House to more firm footing.

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

But, his first reaction to the agreement was tepid:

“Ending a complex and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough exchange of substantive and realistic proposals,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “Furthermore, securing a lasting ceasefire will necessitate both sides to consent to difficult but necessary compromises. This is the reason we are and will continue to develop a set of possible ideas for resolving this conflict based on input from both sides of this war.”

In private, he was said to be much more skeptical of the plan. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted lawmakers to explain that the agreement was merely a initial proposal from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the White House.

“The Secretary did make a call to us this afternoon and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was delivered to one of our representatives,” said Rounds. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he subsequently stated. “It is presented as a solid structure for continuing discussions. It is based on feedback from the Moscow. But, it is additionally based on earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”