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

Before his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or statesman, and his initial attempts to promote the deal to European policymakers were labeled chaotic.

His close ties with Vance, who he studied and shares a close friendship, indicate the resurgence of the isolationist vice-president in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Involvement in Peace Negotiations

This was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous first visit to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is once again pushing back against demands from the US to accept a swift deal that Ukrainian leaders have described as a capitulation.

Following a chaotic initial year in power, international decisions in the White House are said to be influenced by a handful of Trump's top advisers, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

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

“All objection of the peace framework the administration is developing either misinterprets the proposal or misstates some critical reality on the ground,” Vance wrote.

Early Attempts and EU Responses

Vance's initial attempts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also seeking to restore ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. European officials, 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 close to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the recently published peace deal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the agreement in the government, even as the US has been criticized for endorsing a ceasefire plan that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In posts this weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to establish a truce that honored Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to both sides, and prevent the conflict from restarting.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by failed negotiators or politicians residing in a fantasy land,” he added. “An agreement could be made by intelligent people operating in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who continued on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly tasked his staff with securing a agreement on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Internal Doubts

Vance's stance was a distinctly more full-throated support of the plan than that expressed by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the administration who has gone from a shaky position inside the administration to more firm standing.

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

However, his initial response to the deal was tepid:

“Stopping a complex and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough exchange of substantive and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio stated recently. “And, securing a lasting ceasefire will necessitate both sides to agree to challenging but essential concessions. This is the reason we are and will persist to create a set of possible solutions for resolving this war drawing from feedback from both sides of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be much more doubtful of the plan. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds said last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted legislators to explain that the deal was merely a initial proposal from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the administration.

“The Secretary did make a call to us this afternoon and I believe he made it very clear to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was presented to one of our representatives,” said Rounds. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he later wrote. “It is offered as a solid structure for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But, it is also based on earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”