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The US Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an surprising diplomat for the White House's newest proposal to end the conflict in Ukraine. His close relationship with Vice President Vance has placed a key ally of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the center of Donald Trump latest push to settle the war.

Prior to his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or diplomat, and his initial efforts to promote the agreement to European policymakers were labeled chaotic.

Driscoll's strong ties with Vance, with whom he attended Yale and maintains a close friendship, signal the rising influence of the non-interventionist vice-president in talks to end the Ukraine war.

Vance's Involvement in Ceasefire Efforts

It was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's rocky initial trip to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is once again resisting demands from the US to accept a swift deal that local officials have called a surrender.

Following a chaotic initial year in office, foreign policy decisions in the White House are said to be shaped by a small group of Trump's key aides, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

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

“All criticism of the peace framework the administration is working on either misunderstands the proposal or misstates some key reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Initial Attempts and European Reactions

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

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

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

“A ceasefire won’t be made by unsuccessful diplomats or politicians residing in a fantasy land,” he continued. “It could be made by intelligent people living in the real world.”

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the introduction of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his staff with securing a signature on the peace deal before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Response and Internal Concerns

That was a distinctly more full-throated support of the plan than that expressed by the secretary of state and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hardliner in the government who has gone from a uncertain position inside the administration to more firm standing.

Rubio was part of a US delegation that went to Geneva this weekend to confer with Ukrainian officials to help moderate the initial 28-point peace plan in order to make it more palatable to authorities in Kyiv.

But, his initial reaction to the agreement was tepid:

“Stopping a complicated and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “And, achieving a durable peace will require both sides to agree to challenging but necessary concessions. That is why we are and will continue to create a set of potential solutions for ending this conflict based on feedback from both sides of this conflict.”

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

“Rubio did make a phone call to us this afternoon and I think he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a offer that was delivered to one of our officials,” said Rounds. “It is not our suggestion, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to fall in line. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he subsequently stated. “The framework is presented as a solid framework for ongoing discussions. The proposal is based on input from the Russian side. But, it is additionally based on earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”