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America's Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the White House's latest proposal to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close connection with Vice President Vance has positioned a key ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the forefront of President Trump's recent push to settle the war.

Before his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or statesman, and his early attempts to sell the agreement to officials in Europe were labeled turbulent.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, who he attended Yale and maintains a personal bond, indicate the rising influence of the isolationist vice-president in negotiations to end the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Involvement in Ceasefire Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky first visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is once again resisting pressure from the US to agree to a swift settlement that Ukrainian leaders have called a capitulation.

Following a tumultuous initial year in office, international actions in the White House are said to be influenced by a handful of Trump's top aides, such as top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken supporter of the recent plan, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, alongside the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“All objection of the ceasefire plan the White House is developing either misinterprets the proposal or misstates some key reality on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Early Efforts and European Responses

Vance's initial attempts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously seeking to restore relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, meanwhile, were angered by his initial remarks, in which he charged them of running from their voters, who Vance said held restrictionist and right-leaning views similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the new peace deal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the agreement in the government, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a ceasefire plan that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In posts this past weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to produce a truce that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to each party, and stop the war from resuming.

“A ceasefire will not be made by unsuccessful negotiators or officials living in a fantasy land,” he added. “It could be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the introduction of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly tasked his team with securing a signature on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Private Concerns

That was a distinctly more enthusiastic support of the proposal than that expressed by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a uncertain position inside the White House to more stable footing.

Rubio was part of a US team that traveled to Geneva this weekend to confer with Ukrainian officials to help refine the initial 28-point peace plan in order to make it more acceptable to authorities in Kyiv.

However, his first reaction to the deal was lukewarm:

“Ending a complicated and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, achieving a lasting peace will require each party to consent to challenging but necessary compromises. This is the reason we are and will persist to create a set of possible solutions for ending this war drawing from input from each party of this conflict.”

In private, he was reportedly much more doubtful of the plan. The Republican senator Mike Rounds said recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called legislators to explain that the agreement was merely a initial proposal from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the White House.

“Rubio made a phone call to us this day and I think he made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was presented to one of our officials,” stated Rounds. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio moved quickly to fall in line. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “The framework is offered as a strong structure for continuing discussions. The proposal is derived from input from the Moscow. However, it is also based on previous and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”