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The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising envoy for the White House's latest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His strong connection with Vice President Vance has placed a key ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the forefront of Donald Trump recent effort to conclude the conflict.

Before his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or statesman, and his initial efforts to promote the deal to European policymakers were described as turbulent.

His strong relationship with Vance, who he studied and maintains a close friendship, indicate the resurgence of the non-interventionist VP in talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Involvement in Ceasefire Efforts

This was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky first trip to the White House in March and demanded he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a quick deal that local officials have described as a capitulation.

After a tumultuous first year in power, foreign policy decisions in the White House are said to be shaped by a handful of Trump's key aides, such as top aide 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 plan, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, together with the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“All criticism of the ceasefire plan the administration is working on either misunderstands the proposal or misstates some critical reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Attempts and EU Reactions

Vance's initial attempts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also attempting to restore ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were angered by his early speeches, in which he accused them of ignoring their voters, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and conservative positions similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the recently published ceasefire proposal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful spokespeople for the deal in the government, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a peace framework that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's maximalist terms.

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

“A ceasefire will not be made by unsuccessful negotiators or politicians living in a dream world,” he continued. “It could be made by smart people operating in the real world.”

It was Vance who continued on the introduction of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly tasked his team with securing a agreement on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Private Concerns

That was a distinctly more full-throated endorsement of the plan than that given by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the administration who has gone from a uncertain stature inside the White House to more firm footing.

Rubio was a member of a US team that went to Geneva this weekend to meet with Ukrainian officials to help moderate the original 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more palatable to leaders in Kyiv.

But, his first response to the agreement was tepid:

“Stopping a complicated and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough discussion of substantive and realistic proposals,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, achieving a lasting ceasefire will necessitate each party to consent to difficult but necessary compromises. That is why we are and will persist to develop a list of possible solutions for ending this conflict based on input from each party of this war.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be much more skeptical of the plan. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted lawmakers to clarify that the deal was just a initial offer from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the administration.

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

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he later stated. “It is offered as a solid framework for continuing discussions. It is based on feedback from the Russian side. But, it is additionally based on earlier and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”