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America's Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the White House's newest initiative to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His strong relationship with JD Vance has placed a key ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the forefront of President Trump's latest effort to conclude the war.

Before his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or diplomat, and his early attempts to promote the agreement to officials in Europe were labeled chaotic.

Driscoll's strong relationship with Vance, with whom he studied and shares a close friendship, signal the resurgence of the non-interventionist VP in talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Role in Peace Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's disastrous first visit to the White House in March and demanded he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a quick settlement that local officials 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 key advisers, including top aide Susie Wiles, conservative advisor Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

Vance has been a vocal advocate of the latest proposal, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, alongside the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“All criticism of the ceasefire plan the administration is working on either misinterprets the proposal or misstates some key situation on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Efforts and European Reactions

Vance's initial attempts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also seeking to restore relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. European officials, meanwhile, were angered by his initial remarks, in which he accused them of ignoring their voters, who Vance said held anti-immigration and right-leaning views close to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the recently published peace deal closely resembled his stances, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the deal in the government, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a peace framework that mostly resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to produce a truce that honored Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to both sides, and prevent the conflict from restarting.

“Peace will not be made by failed diplomats or officials living in a fantasy land,” he continued. “An agreement could be made by smart people living in the real world.”

It was Vance who continued on the introduction of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his staff with obtaining a signature on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Response 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 security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the government who has transitioned from a shaky stature inside the White House to more firm footing.

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

But, his initial response to the agreement was lukewarm:

“Ending a complex and violent war such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive discussion of serious and realistic ideas,” Rubio wrote recently. “And, securing a lasting ceasefire will necessitate each party to agree to challenging but essential concessions. That is why we are and will continue to create a list of potential ideas for resolving this war based on input from each party of this conflict.”

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

“The Secretary did make a phone call to us this afternoon 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,” said Rounds. “It is not our suggestion, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he later wrote. “The framework is presented as a strong framework for continuing negotiations. The proposal is derived from input from the Moscow. However, it is additionally based on earlier and ongoing input from Ukraine.”