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The US Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the White House's newest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's strong connection with JD Vance has placed a key ally of the Eurosceptic VP at the forefront of Donald Trump latest effort to conclude the conflict.

Before his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or diplomat, and his early attempts to sell the deal to officials in Europe were labeled chaotic.

Driscoll's close ties with Vance, who he attended Yale and shares a close friendship, signal the rising influence of the non-interventionist VP in talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Role in Ceasefire Negotiations

It was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's disastrous first visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is again pushing back against demands from the US to accept a quick deal that Ukrainian leaders have described as a surrender.

Following a chaotic first year in office, international decisions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a small group of Trump's key advisers, such as top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“All objection of the peace framework the administration is developing either misunderstands the framework or misstates some critical situation on the ground,” Vance stated.

Early Efforts and EU Reactions

Vance's initial attempts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while also seeking to restore ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, meanwhile, were irritated by his initial remarks, in which he accused them of ignoring their voters, who Vance said held anti-immigration and conservative views similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the new ceasefire proposal closely resembled his stances, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the deal in the government, even as the US has been criticized for endorsing a ceasefire plan that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In posts this past weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to produce a truce that respected Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to each party, and prevent the conflict from resuming.

“Peace won’t be made by failed diplomats or officials residing in a dream world,” he added. “It could be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly tasked his staff with securing a agreement on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Internal Concerns

That was a notably more full-throated support of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the administration who has gone from a shaky stature inside the administration to more firm standing.

Rubio was a member of a US delegation that traveled to Geneva this weekend to confer with Ukrainian leaders to help refine the initial 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more palatable to leaders in Kyiv.

However, his initial response to the deal was lukewarm:

“Stopping a complicated and violent war such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough discussion of serious and realistic ideas,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “Furthermore, achieving a durable peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but essential compromises. That is why we are and will continue to create a set of potential solutions for resolving this war based on input from both sides of this conflict.”

In private, he was reportedly much more skeptical of the plan. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds said recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to explain that the deal was just a initial offer from the Russians and not an initiative advocated 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 offer that was presented to one of our officials,” said Rounds. “It is not our suggestion, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “It is presented as a solid structure for continuing negotiations. It is based on input from the Moscow. But, it is also based on earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”