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America's Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, was an unlikely diplomat for the Trump administration latest initiative to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Driscoll's strong relationship with Vice President Vance has positioned a close associate of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the center of President Trump's latest push to conclude the war.

Before his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or diplomat, and his early attempts to sell the deal to European policymakers were described as turbulent.

His strong ties with Vance, with whom he studied and shares a personal bond, indicate the rising influence of the non-interventionist VP in negotiations to end the Ukraine war.

The VP's Role in Peace Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky initial visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is once again resisting pressure from the US to accept a swift deal that local officials have called a capitulation.

After a chaotic initial year in office, foreign policy actions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a small group of Trump's key aides, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken supporter of the recent proposal, 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 administration is working on either misunderstands the proposal or misrepresents some critical situation on the ground,” Vance wrote.

Early Efforts and EU Responses

Vance's early efforts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he charged them of running from their voters, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and conservative positions similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

However, the new peace deal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful spokespeople for the agreement in the administration, even as the US has been under fire for endorsing a peace framework that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

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

“Peace will not be made by unsuccessful diplomats or politicians living in a fantasy land,” he added. “An agreement might be made by intelligent people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who continued on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly instructed his team with securing a signature on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Response and Private Concerns

Vance's stance was a notably more enthusiastic endorsement of the plan than that given by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hardliner in the government who has transitioned from a uncertain position inside the administration to more firm standing.

Rubio was part of a US delegation that went to Geneva this weekend to meet with Ukrainian officials to help moderate the original 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more acceptable to leaders in Kyiv.

But, his initial reaction to the agreement was lukewarm:

“Stopping a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive discussion of substantive and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “And, achieving a durable ceasefire will require both sides to agree to difficult but necessary compromises. This is the reason we are and will continue to create a list of possible solutions for ending this war based on feedback from both sides of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, he was reportedly much more skeptical of the plan. The Republican senator Mike Rounds said last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to explain that the deal was merely a initial offer 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 receivers of a offer that was delivered to one of our officials,” said Rounds. “The document is not our suggestion, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio acted swiftly 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. The proposal is derived from feedback from the Russian side. However, it is also informed by previous and current contributions from Ukraine.”