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America's Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the White House's newest proposal to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's close relationship with Vice President Vance has placed a key ally of the Euroskeptic VP at the center of Donald Trump latest effort to settle the war.

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

His close relationship with Vance, with whom he attended Yale and shares a personal bond, indicate the resurgence of the non-interventionist VP in talks to end the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's rocky first trip to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is again resisting demands from the US to accept a quick settlement that local officials have called a surrender.

After a tumultuous first year in office, international actions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a handful of Trump's top aides, including top aide 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 recent proposal, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, alongside the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every criticism of the peace framework the administration is developing either misunderstands the proposal or misstates some key situation on the ground,” Vance stated.

Initial Attempts and EU Responses

Vance's early efforts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. European officials, in turn, were angered by his early speeches, in which he charged them of ignoring their voters, who Vance said held restrictionist and right-leaning positions close to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the recently published ceasefire proposal mirrored his stances, and he has been one of the most assertive spokespeople for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for endorsing a peace framework that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

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

“Peace won’t be made by unsuccessful negotiators or officials living in a dream world,” he added. “An agreement could be made by smart people operating in the actual situation.”

Additionally, it was Vance who continued on the introduction of the peace plan in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his staff with obtaining a signature on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Internal Concerns

Vance's stance was a distinctly more full-throated endorsement of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the administration who has gone from a uncertain position inside the administration to more firm standing.

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

However, his initial reaction to the agreement was tepid:

“Ending a complex and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough exchange of substantive and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, securing a lasting peace will necessitate each party to agree to challenging but essential compromises. That is why we are and will continue to develop a list of possible ideas for ending this war based on feedback from each party of this war.”

In private, he was said to be much more doubtful of the plan. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to clarify that the deal was just a initial proposal from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the White House.

“Rubio did make a call to us this day and I believe he made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was delivered to one of our representatives,” said Rounds. “It is not our suggestion, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he later stated. “It is offered as a solid framework for ongoing negotiations. The proposal is derived from input from the Moscow. But, it is also informed by earlier and current input from Ukraine.”