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America's Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration latest proposal to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Driscoll's strong connection with Vice President Vance has positioned a close associate of the Eurosceptic VP at the center of Donald Trump recent push to conclude the conflict.

Before his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or statesman, and his initial attempts to sell the deal to officials in Europe were described as chaotic.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, with whom he studied and maintains a personal bond, indicate the rising influence of the non-interventionist vice-president in talks to end the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Role in Peace Efforts

This was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky initial visit to the White House in March and demanded he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is once again pushing back against demands from the US to accept a swift deal that local officials have described as a surrender.

Following a tumultuous initial year in office, foreign policy decisions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a small group of Trump's key advisers, such as top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

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

“All criticism of the peace framework the administration is developing either misunderstands the proposal or misrepresents some key situation on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Initial Efforts and European Reactions

Vance's initial efforts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously seeking to renew relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were irritated by his early speeches, in which he accused them of running from their voters, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and conservative views similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the new ceasefire proposal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the agreement in the administration, even as the US has been under fire for accepting a ceasefire plan that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In posts this past weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to both sides, and stop the war from resuming.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by unsuccessful diplomats or officials living in a fantasy land,” he continued. “It could be made by intelligent people operating in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who continued on the introduction of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his team with securing a signature on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Response and Internal Doubts

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

Rubio was a member of a US delegation that went to Geneva this weekend to confer with Ukrainian officials to help moderate the initial 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more acceptable to leaders in Kyiv.

However, his initial reaction to the agreement was lukewarm:

“Stopping a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough discussion of serious and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, achieving a durable peace will necessitate each party to consent to challenging but necessary concessions. This is the reason we are and will continue to create a list of potential ideas for resolving this conflict based on feedback from each party of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be 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 explain that the deal was just a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an plan advocated by the White House.

“The Secretary made a phone call to us this day and I think he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was presented to one of our officials,” stated Rounds. “The document is not our suggestion, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio moved quickly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he later wrote. “It is presented as a strong structure for ongoing discussions. It is derived from input from the Moscow. But, it is also informed by previous and current contributions from Ukraine.”