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America's Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an unlikely diplomat for the Trump administration newest proposal to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close connection with Vice President Vance has positioned a close associate of the Euroskeptic VP at the center of President Trump's recent effort to settle the conflict.

Before his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or statesman, and his early efforts to sell the deal to officials in Europe were described as chaotic.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, who he studied and maintains a personal bond, signal the rising influence of the isolationist vice-president in talks to end the Ukraine war.

Vance's Role in Peace Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky initial visit to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is again resisting demands from the US to agree to a quick deal that local officials have described as a surrender.

After a tumultuous initial year in office, international decisions in the White House are said to be shaped by a handful of Trump's key aides, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

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

“All objection of the ceasefire plan the administration is developing either misinterprets the framework or misstates some critical situation on the ground,” Vance wrote.

Early Efforts and EU Responses

Vance's initial attempts at hammering out a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, in turn, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he charged them of running from their constituents, who Vance said held restrictionist and right-leaning views similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the new peace deal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been under fire for accepting a peace framework that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In posts this weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to produce a ceasefire that respected Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to each party, and stop the conflict from restarting.

“A ceasefire will not be made by unsuccessful diplomats or politicians residing in a fantasy land,” he continued. “It might be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who continued on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his team with obtaining a agreement on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Internal Doubts

That was a distinctly more enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a uncertain position inside the White House to more stable standing.

Rubio was part of a US team that traveled to Geneva this weekend to meet with Ukrainian leaders 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 deal was lukewarm:

“Ending a complicated and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of substantive and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio wrote recently. “Furthermore, securing a lasting ceasefire will require both sides to consent to difficult but essential concessions. That is why we are and will persist to develop a list of possible solutions for resolving this conflict based on input from each party of this conflict.”

In private, he was reportedly much more doubtful of the proposal. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to clarify that the deal was merely a initial offer from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the administration.

“Rubio made a call to us this afternoon and I think he made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a offer that was presented to one of our officials,” said Rounds. “It is not our suggestion, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to fall in line. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “It is presented as a solid structure for continuing discussions. It is derived from feedback from the Russian side. However, it is also based on earlier and ongoing input from Ukraine.”