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The US Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, was an unlikely envoy for the White House's newest proposal to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close connection with Vice President Vance has positioned a key ally of the Euroskeptic VP at the forefront of President Trump's latest push to settle the war.

Prior to his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or statesman, and his initial attempts to promote the deal to European policymakers were described as chaotic.

Driscoll's close ties with Vance, with whom he attended Yale and maintains a personal bond, signal the rising influence of the non-interventionist vice-president in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Role in Peace Efforts

This 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 respect. Now, Ukraine is again resisting pressure from the US to agree to a quick deal that local officials have described as a capitulation.

Following a chaotic initial year in office, international actions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a handful of Trump's top aides, including top aide Susie Wiles, conservative advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken advocate of the latest plan, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, together with the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“All criticism of the peace framework the White House is developing either misinterprets the framework or misstates some key situation on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Attempts and European Responses

Vance's initial attempts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously seeking to renew ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were angered by his initial remarks, in which he accused them of ignoring their voters, who Vance said held anti-immigration and conservative views close to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the recently published ceasefire proposal closely resembled 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 accepting a ceasefire plan that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a truce that honored Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to each party, and prevent the war from resuming.

“Peace will not be made by failed diplomats or politicians living in a dream world,” he continued. “An agreement might be made by smart 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 primarily tasked his team with obtaining a signature on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Private Doubts

That was a distinctly more full-throated endorsement of the proposal 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 uncertain position inside the White House to more stable standing.

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

However, his first response to the agreement was tepid:

“Stopping a complex and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive discussion of serious and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, achieving a durable ceasefire will necessitate each party to consent to challenging but necessary concessions. That is why we are and will persist to develop a set of potential ideas for resolving this war drawing from input from each party of this war.”

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

“Rubio did make a phone call to us this day and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was delivered to one of our representatives,” said Rounds. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to fall in line. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he subsequently stated. “It is offered as a solid framework for continuing discussions. It is derived from input from the Russian side. However, it is additionally informed by earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”