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The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an unlikely diplomat for the Trump administration latest initiative to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close relationship with JD Vance has positioned a key ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the forefront of Donald Trump recent push to conclude the conflict.

Before his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or statesman, and his early efforts to sell the deal to officials in Europe were labeled chaotic.

His close ties with Vance, with whom he attended Yale and shares a personal bond, indicate the resurgence of the isolationist VP in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Involvement in Peace Negotiations

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky first visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a quick deal that Ukrainian leaders have described as a capitulation.

Following a chaotic initial year in office, foreign policy decisions in the White House are said to be influenced by a small group of Trump's key advisers, including top aide Susie Wiles, conservative advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken supporter of the latest proposal, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, together with the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“All criticism of the ceasefire plan the White House is working on either misinterprets the proposal or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Attempts and European Responses

Vance's early efforts at hammering out a peace deal with Russia, while also attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were irritated by his initial remarks, in which he charged them of ignoring their voters, who Vance said held restrictionist and conservative views close to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the recently published peace deal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a ceasefire plan that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to each party, and stop the conflict from resuming.

“Peace will not be made by failed negotiators or officials living in a dream world,” he continued. “It could be made by intelligent people living in the real world.”

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his staff with obtaining a agreement on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Private Doubts

Vance's stance was a distinctly more full-throated support of the proposal than that given by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the government who has gone from a shaky stature inside the White House to more firm footing.

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 peace plan in order to make it more acceptable to authorities in Kyiv.

However, his initial reaction to the deal was lukewarm:

“Stopping a complicated and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive discussion of serious and realistic proposals,” Rubio wrote recently. “Furthermore, securing a lasting ceasefire will necessitate both sides to consent to difficult but essential concessions. That is why we are and will persist to develop a set of potential ideas for resolving this war drawing from input from both sides of this war.”

In private, he was reportedly much more skeptical of the proposal. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to clarify that the deal was just a preliminary offer from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the White House.

“Rubio made a phone call to us this afternoon and I think 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. “The document is not our suggestion, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he later stated. “It is offered as a strong structure for ongoing negotiations. It is derived from input from the Russian side. But, it is additionally based on previous and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”