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America's Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an unlikely diplomat for the White House's latest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's close relationship with JD Vance has positioned a close associate of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the forefront of President Trump's recent push to conclude the conflict.

Prior to his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or diplomat, and his early efforts to promote the agreement to European policymakers were described as turbulent.

His strong relationship with Vance, who he studied and shares a close friendship, indicate the resurgence of the isolationist VP in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Involvement in Peace Negotiations

This was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky first trip to the White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is once again pushing back against pressure from the US to agree to a swift deal that Ukrainian leaders have described as a capitulation.

Following a chaotic first year in office, foreign policy actions in the White House are said to be influenced by a small group of Trump's top aides, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative advisor Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a vocal advocate of the recent proposal, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, alongside the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“All criticism of the ceasefire plan the White House is working on either misinterprets the framework or misstates some key reality on the ground,” Vance stated.

Initial Efforts and European Responses

Vance's early efforts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. European officials, in turn, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he accused them of ignoring their voters, who Vance said held restrictionist and conservative views similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

However, the recently published ceasefire proposal mirrored his stances, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the deal in the government, even as the US has been under fire for endorsing a peace framework that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

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

“Peace won’t be made by unsuccessful diplomats or politicians living in a dream world,” he added. “An agreement could be made by smart people living in the real world.”

Additionally, it was Vance who continued on the introduction of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly tasked his team with obtaining a signature on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Private Doubts

That was a distinctly more full-throated endorsement of the proposal than that given by the secretary of state and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the administration who has gone from a uncertain position inside the administration to more stable standing.

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

But, his first reaction to the agreement was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive discussion of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio wrote recently. “And, securing a durable peace will necessitate both sides to agree to challenging but essential compromises. That is why we are and will continue to create a set of potential ideas for ending this conflict drawing from input from each party 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 contacted legislators to explain that the agreement was merely a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the White House.

“The Secretary made a call to us this afternoon and I think he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was presented to one of our officials,” stated Rounds. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he later stated. “The framework is offered as a solid framework for continuing negotiations. It is derived from input from the Russian side. But, it is additionally based on earlier and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”