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America's Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration latest proposal to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close connection with Vice President Vance has positioned a key ally of the Euroskeptic VP at the center of President Trump's latest push to conclude the war.

Prior to his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or statesman, and his initial efforts to sell the agreement to European policymakers were labeled chaotic.

His close relationship with Vance, with whom he attended Yale and shares a personal bond, indicate the resurgence of the non-interventionist VP in negotiations to end the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Involvement in Peace Negotiations

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous initial visit to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is once again resisting demands from the US to agree to a quick settlement that Ukrainian leaders have called a surrender.

After a chaotic first year in power, foreign policy actions in the White House are said to be shaped by a handful of Trump's key advisers, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken supporter of the recent plan, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, alongside the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“All criticism of the ceasefire plan the administration is working on either misinterprets the proposal or misstates some critical situation on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Early Efforts and European Reactions

Vance's early attempts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to restore ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, in turn, were irritated by his initial remarks, in which he accused them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and conservative views similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the new ceasefire proposal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive spokespeople for the agreement in the government, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a peace framework that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to establish a truce that respected Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to both sides, and stop the war from restarting.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by failed diplomats or politicians living in a dream world,” he added. “An agreement could be made by intelligent people operating 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 primarily instructed his team with securing a signature on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Internal Concerns

Vance's stance was a distinctly more enthusiastic endorsement of the plan than that given by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a uncertain position inside the White House to more firm standing.

Rubio was a member of a US delegation that went to Geneva this weekend to meet with Ukrainian leaders to help moderate the initial 28-point peace plan in order to make it more acceptable to authorities in Kyiv.

But, his initial reaction to the deal was tepid:

“Ending a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive discussion of serious and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, achieving a durable ceasefire will require each party to consent to challenging 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 feedback from both sides of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be much more skeptical of the plan. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds said last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted lawmakers to clarify that the deal was just a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the administration.

“The Secretary did make a phone call to us this day and I think he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a proposal that was presented to one of our representatives,” said Rounds. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “The framework is offered as a solid structure for ongoing negotiations. The proposal is derived from feedback from the Russian side. But, it is also informed by earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”