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America's Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the White House's latest proposal to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close connection with Vice President Vance has positioned a close associate of the Eurosceptic VP at the forefront of President Trump's latest effort to conclude the war.

Before his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or diplomat, and his initial efforts to sell the deal to officials in Europe were labeled chaotic.

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

Vance's Involvement in Ceasefire Efforts

It was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's rocky first visit to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is again resisting pressure from the US to accept a swift deal that Ukrainian leaders have called a capitulation.

Following a chaotic first year in office, foreign policy actions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a handful of Trump's top advisers, such as 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 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 developing either misinterprets the proposal or misstates some critical reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Efforts and EU Responses

Vance's early efforts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he charged them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and right-leaning positions close to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the new ceasefire proposal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the agreement in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a peace framework that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist terms.

In posts this past weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to produce a truce that respected Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to each party, and prevent the war from restarting.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by failed diplomats or politicians living in a fantasy land,” he continued. “It might be made by intelligent people living in the actual situation.”

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the introduction of the peace plan in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his staff with securing a agreement on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Internal Doubts

Vance's stance was a notably more full-throated support of the plan than that expressed by the secretary of state and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the government who has gone from a uncertain position inside the administration to more stable footing.

Rubio was part of a US team that went to Geneva this weekend to confer with Ukrainian officials to help moderate the initial 28-point peace plan in order to make it more palatable to authorities in Kyiv.

However, his first reaction to the agreement was tepid:

“Ending a complex and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough discussion of substantive and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “Furthermore, securing a durable ceasefire will necessitate both sides to agree to challenging but necessary compromises. That is why we are and will continue to develop a set of potential ideas for ending this war drawing from feedback from both sides of this war.”

In private, he was reportedly much more doubtful of the plan. The Republican senator Mike Rounds stated last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to clarify that the agreement was merely a preliminary offer from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the administration.

“Rubio made a call to us this afternoon and I believe he made it very clear to us that we are the receivers of a proposal that was presented to one of our representatives,” stated Rounds. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he later wrote. “The framework is offered as a strong structure for ongoing discussions. It is based on input from the Russian side. However, it is also based on earlier and current input from Ukraine.”