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America's Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the White House's latest initiative 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.

Before his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or diplomat, and his early attempts to sell the agreement to officials in Europe were labeled turbulent.

Driscoll's strong ties with Vance, who he attended Yale and shares a close friendship, indicate the rising influence of the non-interventionist vice-president in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Involvement in Peace Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous initial trip to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is once again pushing back against pressure from the US to accept a swift settlement that local officials have described as a surrender.

Following a tumultuous first year in office, foreign policy actions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a handful of Trump's top advisers, such as top aide Susie Wiles, conservative advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a vocal supporter of the latest plan, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, alongside the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“All criticism of the peace framework the administration is working on either misunderstands the proposal or misstates some critical situation on the ground,” the VP stated.

Initial Attempts and EU Responses

Vance's early attempts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously seeking to restore ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were angered by his early remarks, in which he accused them of ignoring their voters, who Vance said held restrictionist and conservative views similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the new ceasefire proposal closely resembled his stances, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a peace framework that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In posts this past weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a ceasefire that respected Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to both sides, and prevent the war from resuming.

“A ceasefire will not be made by unsuccessful diplomats or officials living in a dream world,” he added. “It could be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

Additionally, it was Vance who continued on the introduction of the peace plan in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly tasked his staff with securing a agreement on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Private Concerns

That was a notably more full-throated endorsement of the plan than that given by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hardliner in the government who has transitioned from a uncertain stature inside the White House to more stable footing.

Rubio was a member of a US team that traveled to Geneva this weekend to confer 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 initial response to the deal was lukewarm:

“Ending a complicated and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough discussion of substantive and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “Furthermore, securing a durable ceasefire will require each party to consent to difficult but essential compromises. This is the reason we are and will continue to create a set of possible ideas for resolving this conflict based on input from each party of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be much more doubtful of the proposal. The Republican senator Mike Rounds said recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted lawmakers to explain that the deal was just a initial offer from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the administration.

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

Rubio acted swiftly to fall in line. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “The framework is presented as a strong framework for ongoing discussions. The proposal is based on feedback from the Moscow. However, it is also informed by earlier and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”