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The US Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising envoy for the Trump administration latest initiative to end the conflict in Ukraine. His close connection with JD Vance has positioned a close associate of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the center of Donald Trump recent effort to conclude the conflict.

Prior to his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or diplomat, and his initial attempts to sell the deal to officials in Europe were labeled chaotic.

Driscoll's strong relationship with Vance, who he studied and shares a close friendship, indicate the resurgence of the non-interventionist vice-president in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Involvement in Ceasefire Efforts

It was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's disastrous first visit to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is once again resisting demands from the US to agree to a quick deal that local officials have called a surrender.

After a chaotic first year in office, international decisions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a small group of Trump's top advisers, including top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“All criticism of the ceasefire plan the White House is developing either misunderstands the proposal or misrepresents some key situation on the ground,” Vance stated.

Early Attempts and European Reactions

Vance's early efforts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to restore relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, in turn, were angered by his early speeches, in which he accused them of ignoring their constituents, who Vance said held restrictionist and right-leaning views similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the recently published peace deal closely resembled his stances, and he has been one of the most assertive spokespeople for the deal in the government, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a peace framework that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to both sides, and stop the war from resuming.

“Peace will not be made by failed diplomats or officials residing in a fantasy land,” he continued. “It might be made by smart people operating in the real world.”

It was Vance who followed up on the introduction of the peace plan in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly instructed his staff with obtaining a signature on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Internal Concerns

That was a distinctly more full-throated endorsement of the proposal than that given by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk 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 officials to help moderate the initial 28-point peace plan in order to make it more acceptable to leaders in Kyiv.

However, his first reaction to the deal was lukewarm:

“Ending a complicated and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough discussion of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “Furthermore, achieving a durable peace will necessitate both sides to agree to difficult but essential concessions. This is the reason we are and will continue to develop a list 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 plan. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called legislators to explain that the agreement was merely a initial proposal from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the administration.

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

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he later wrote. “The framework is offered as a strong framework for continuing negotiations. It is based on input from the Moscow. However, it is additionally based on previous and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”