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America's Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an unlikely diplomat for the White House's newest proposal to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. His close relationship with Vice President Vance has positioned a close associate of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the forefront of Donald Trump recent effort to conclude the war.

Prior to his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or diplomat, and his early efforts to promote the deal to European policymakers were described as chaotic.

Driscoll's strong ties with Vance, with whom he studied and shares a personal bond, indicate the resurgence of the non-interventionist vice-president in talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Involvement in Peace Efforts

This was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's rocky first visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is once again resisting pressure from the US to agree to a swift deal that local officials have described as a capitulation.

After a tumultuous first year in office, international decisions in the White House are said to be influenced by a small group of Trump's top advisers, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“All objection of the ceasefire plan the White House is developing either misinterprets the framework or misrepresents some key situation on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Initial Attempts and European Responses

Vance's early attempts at hammering out a peace deal with Russia, while also seeking to renew relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were irritated by his early speeches, in which he accused them of running from their constituents, who Vance said held restrictionist and right-leaning positions similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the recently published peace deal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the deal in the government, even as the US has been under fire for endorsing a peace framework that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to produce a ceasefire that respected Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to both sides, and prevent the war from restarting.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by unsuccessful negotiators or officials living in a dream world,” he continued. “An agreement might be made by smart people living in the real world.”

It was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his team with obtaining a signature on the peace deal before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Internal Doubts

Vance's stance was a distinctly more enthusiastic support of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the government who has gone from a shaky stature inside the administration to more firm footing.

Rubio was part of a US team that traveled to Geneva this past weekend to meet with Ukrainian leaders to help refine the original 28-point peace plan in order to make it more palatable to leaders in Kyiv.

However, his initial reaction to the deal was tepid:

“Stopping a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of serious and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “And, securing a lasting ceasefire will necessitate both sides to consent to difficult but essential compromises. This is the reason we are and will continue to create a set of possible solutions for resolving this war drawing from feedback from both sides of this war.”

Behind closed doors, 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 called legislators to clarify that the deal was just a initial proposal from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the administration.

“Rubio did make a 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 representatives,” stated Rounds. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “It is offered as a solid structure for continuing discussions. It is based on input from the Moscow. However, it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”