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The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration newest proposal to end the conflict in Ukraine. His strong connection with JD Vance has positioned a key ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the center of Donald Trump recent effort to conclude the war.

Before his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or diplomat, and his initial attempts to promote the deal to officials in Europe were labeled chaotic.

His strong relationship with Vance, who he studied and maintains a personal bond, signal the resurgence of the isolationist VP in talks to end the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Role in Ceasefire Negotiations

It was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's rocky initial trip to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is again pushing back against pressure from the US to accept a quick settlement that Ukrainian leaders have called a surrender.

After a chaotic first year in power, foreign policy actions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a small group of Trump's top aides, such as top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a vocal supporter of the latest plan, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, alongside the Russian diplomat 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 Reactions

Vance's early efforts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while also attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were angered by his initial remarks, in which he charged them of running from their voters, who Vance said held restrictionist and right-leaning views close to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the new ceasefire proposal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive spokespeople for the deal in the government, even as the US has been criticized for endorsing a ceasefire plan that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In posts this weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to each party, and stop the war from restarting.

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

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the introduction of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his team with obtaining a signature on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Response and Private Doubts

Vance's stance was a notably more enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal than that given by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the government who has transitioned from a shaky position inside the White House to more stable footing.

Rubio was a member of a US team that went to Geneva this past weekend to meet with Ukrainian leaders to help refine the initial 28-point peace plan in order to make it more acceptable to leaders in Kyiv.

But, his first response to the deal was tepid:

“Stopping a complicated and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive discussion of substantive and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “And, securing a durable peace will necessitate each party to agree to difficult but essential concessions. That is why we are and will continue to develop a set of potential ideas for resolving this conflict based on feedback from both sides of this conflict.”

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

“The Secretary made a phone call to us this day and I believe 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 written by the US,” he later stated. “The framework is presented as a solid framework for continuing discussions. It is based on feedback from the Russian side. But, it is additionally informed by earlier and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”