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The US Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, was an unlikely diplomat for the Trump administration latest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close relationship with JD Vance has placed a key ally of the Euroskeptic VP at the center of President Trump's recent push to settle the conflict.

Prior to his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or diplomat, and his early attempts to sell the agreement to officials in Europe were described as turbulent.

Driscoll's close ties with Vance, who he studied and maintains a personal bond, signal the rising influence of the non-interventionist VP in talks to end the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Role in Ceasefire Negotiations

It was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous first visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is again pushing back against pressure from the US to accept a swift deal that local officials have called a capitulation.

Following a tumultuous first year in power, foreign policy decisions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a handful of Trump's key advisers, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken advocate 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 peace framework the White House is working on either misunderstands the framework or misstates some critical situation on the ground,” the VP stated.

Initial Attempts and EU Responses

Vance's early efforts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, in turn, were irritated by his early speeches, in which he accused them of ignoring their constituents, who Vance said held anti-immigration and conservative positions close 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 spokespeople for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been under fire for accepting a ceasefire plan that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance asserted that a ceasefire agreement would have to establish a truce that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to each party, and prevent the conflict from restarting.

“A ceasefire will not be made by failed negotiators or politicians living in a dream world,” he continued. “An agreement might be made by intelligent people operating in the actual situation.”

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 securing a agreement on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Internal Concerns

That was a notably more full-throated endorsement of the plan than that expressed by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the administration who has gone from a uncertain stature inside the White House to more firm standing.

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

But, his initial reaction to the deal was tepid:

“Stopping a complicated and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive discussion of serious and realistic proposals,” Rubio wrote recently. “And, securing a durable ceasefire will require both sides to consent to challenging but essential compromises. That is why we are and will continue to develop a set of possible solutions for resolving this conflict drawing from feedback from each party of this conflict.”

In private, he was said to be much more doubtful of the proposal. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted lawmakers to clarify that the deal was merely a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the administration.

“The Secretary made a phone call to us this afternoon and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the recipients 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 moved quickly to fall in line. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he later wrote. “The framework is presented as a strong structure for ongoing discussions. It is based on input from the Russian side. But, it is also informed by earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”