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The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an unlikely diplomat for the White House's latest proposal to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. His close relationship with JD Vance has placed a key ally of the Eurosceptic VP at the center of President Trump's latest push to settle the war.

Before his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or statesman, and his initial efforts to sell the agreement to officials in Europe were labeled chaotic.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, who he studied and maintains a close friendship, signal the resurgence of the non-interventionist vice-president in talks to end the Ukraine war.

Vance's Role in Peace Negotiations

It was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky first trip to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is once again resisting pressure from the US to agree to a swift deal that Ukrainian leaders have called a surrender.

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, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken supporter of the recent proposal, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, together with the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“All criticism of the ceasefire plan the administration is working on either misinterprets the framework or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Attempts and EU Responses

Vance's initial attempts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously seeking to restore ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were irritated by his initial speeches, in which he accused them of running from their voters, who Vance said held anti-immigration and conservative positions similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the new peace deal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the deal in the government, even as the US has been criticized for endorsing a peace framework that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to produce a truce that respected Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to both sides, and stop the conflict from restarting.

“Peace won’t be made by failed diplomats or officials residing in a fantasy land,” he added. “An agreement might be made by smart people operating in the real world.”

It was Vance who continued on the introduction of the peace plan in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his staff with obtaining a signature on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Internal Concerns

Vance's stance was a distinctly more full-throated support of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the administration who has gone from a shaky position inside the administration to more stable footing.

Rubio was part of a US team that traveled to Geneva this weekend to confer with Ukrainian officials to help moderate the original 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more palatable to leaders in Kyiv.

But, his initial response to the agreement was tepid:

“Stopping a complex and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of substantive and realistic ideas,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “And, achieving a lasting ceasefire will necessitate each party to agree to difficult but necessary compromises. This is the reason we are and will continue to develop a list of possible ideas for ending this war drawing from input from both sides of this war.”

In private, he was said to be much more doubtful of the plan. The Republican senator Mike Rounds said recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted lawmakers to clarify that the agreement was just a initial proposal from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the administration.

“The Secretary made a call to us this day and I think he made it very clear to us that we are the receivers of a proposal that was presented to one of our officials,” stated Rounds. “It 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 subsequently stated. “It is offered as a solid framework for continuing negotiations. It is based on feedback from the Moscow. But, it is additionally based on earlier and ongoing input from Ukraine.”