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The US Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration latest proposal to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's close relationship with JD Vance has positioned a key ally of the Eurosceptic VP at the center of Donald Trump recent effort to conclude the conflict.

Prior to his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or statesman, and his early attempts to promote the agreement to European policymakers were labeled chaotic.

His close ties with Vance, who he attended Yale and maintains a personal bond, signal the rising influence of the non-interventionist VP in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Role in Ceasefire Negotiations

It was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous first trip to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is once again resisting pressure from the US to accept a quick settlement that local officials have called a capitulation.

After a tumultuous initial year in office, international actions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a small group of Trump's top advisers, such as top aide Susie Wiles, conservative advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“Every criticism of the ceasefire plan the White House is developing either misunderstands the proposal or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Initial Attempts and European Reactions

Vance's early efforts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously seeking to restore ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were irritated by his initial speeches, in which he charged them of running from their voters, who Vance said held anti-immigration and conservative positions close to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the recently published ceasefire proposal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful spokespeople for the agreement in the government, even as the US has been under fire for accepting a ceasefire plan that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a ceasefire that respected Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to each party, and stop the conflict from resuming.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by unsuccessful negotiators or politicians residing in a fantasy land,” he continued. “It might be made by intelligent people living in the actual situation.”

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

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Internal Concerns

Vance's stance was a distinctly more enthusiastic endorsement of the plan than that given by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the government who has gone from a shaky position inside the White House to more stable standing.

Rubio was a member of a US delegation that traveled to Geneva this weekend to meet with Ukrainian leaders to help moderate the original 28-point peace plan in order to make it more palatable to authorities in Kyiv.

But, his initial reaction to the agreement was tepid:

“Stopping a complicated and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of serious and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “Furthermore, achieving a durable peace will require each party to consent to difficult but essential concessions. This is the reason we are and will continue to create a list of possible ideas for resolving this war based on input from both sides of this war.”

In private, he was reportedly much more skeptical of the plan. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted legislators to clarify that the agreement was just a initial offer from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the White House.

“Rubio made a phone call to us this afternoon and I think he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was delivered to one of our representatives,” said Rounds. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he subsequently stated. “It is presented as a strong framework for continuing negotiations. The proposal is based on feedback from the Moscow. However, it is additionally informed by earlier and ongoing input from Ukraine.”