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America's Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration newest proposal to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close relationship with JD Vance has positioned a close associate of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the forefront of Donald Trump latest push to settle the conflict.

Prior to his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or diplomat, and his early efforts to sell the deal to European policymakers were labeled chaotic.

His strong relationship with Vance, who he studied and maintains a personal bond, signal the resurgence of the isolationist VP in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Role in Peace Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky initial trip to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a swift settlement that Ukrainian leaders have described as a surrender.

Following a chaotic first year in office, international actions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a handful of Trump's key advisers, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“All objection of the ceasefire plan the administration is developing either misinterprets the proposal or misrepresents some key situation on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Efforts and EU Reactions

Vance's initial attempts at hammering out a peace deal with Russia, while also seeking to renew relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he charged them of running from their voters, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and conservative views similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the new ceasefire proposal mirrored his stances, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the deal in the government, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a peace framework that mostly resembles Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to both sides, and prevent the war from resuming.

“A ceasefire will not be made by unsuccessful negotiators or politicians living in a fantasy land,” he added. “It might be made by smart people living in the real world.”

Additionally, it was Vance who continued on the introduction of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly tasked his team with securing a signature on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Internal Concerns

Vance's stance was a notably more enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal than that given by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the government who has gone from a uncertain position inside the administration to more firm footing.

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

But, his initial reaction to the deal was tepid:

“Ending a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive exchange of substantive and realistic proposals,” Rubio wrote recently. “And, achieving a durable ceasefire will necessitate both sides to consent to challenging but essential compromises. This is the reason we are and will continue to develop a list of possible solutions for ending this war based on input 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 recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called legislators to explain that the deal was just a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an plan advocated by the administration.

“The Secretary made a phone call to us this afternoon 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. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he later wrote. “It is offered as a solid framework for continuing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But, it is additionally informed by previous and current input from Ukraine.”