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America's Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an surprising envoy for the Trump administration latest proposal to end the conflict in Ukraine. Driscoll's strong relationship with Vice President Vance has placed a key ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the forefront of Donald Trump latest push to conclude the conflict.

Before his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or diplomat, and his initial attempts to sell the agreement to European policymakers were described as chaotic.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, who he studied and shares a close friendship, indicate the rising influence of the isolationist VP in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine war.

Vance's Role in Peace Negotiations

This was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's rocky first visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a swift settlement that Ukrainian leaders have described as a surrender.

Following a tumultuous first year in office, international actions in the White House are said to be shaped by a handful of Trump's key advisers, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a vocal advocate of the recent plan, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, together with the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every objection of the ceasefire plan the administration is developing either misinterprets the proposal or misstates some key reality on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Early Efforts and EU Responses

Vance's early efforts at hammering out a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously seeking to renew ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were irritated by his early remarks, in which he accused them of ignoring their voters, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and right-leaning positions similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

However, the recently published ceasefire proposal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the agreement in the government, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a ceasefire plan that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In posts this past weekend, Vance asserted that a ceasefire agreement would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to both sides, and stop the conflict from resuming.

“Peace will not be made by failed diplomats or politicians living in a fantasy land,” he added. “It might be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who continued on the presentation of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his team with obtaining a agreement on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Internal Concerns

That was a distinctly more enthusiastic support of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hardliner in the government who has gone from a shaky position inside the administration to more stable footing.

Rubio was part of a US delegation that went to Geneva this weekend to meet with Ukrainian leaders to help moderate the initial 28-point peace plan in order to make it more acceptable to authorities in Kyiv.

But, his initial reaction to the agreement was tepid:

“Ending a complex and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive discussion of substantive and realistic ideas,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “And, achieving a lasting ceasefire will necessitate each party to agree to difficult but essential compromises. That is why we are and will persist to develop a list of possible solutions for resolving this conflict drawing from input from both sides of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be much more doubtful of the proposal. The Republican senator Mike Rounds stated last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted legislators to clarify that the deal was just a initial proposal from the Russians and not an initiative pushed 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 proposal that was delivered to one of our officials,” said Rounds. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he later stated. “It is presented as a solid framework for continuing negotiations. The proposal is derived from input from the Russian side. However, it is additionally informed by previous and current input from Ukraine.”