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The US Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, was an unlikely diplomat for the White House's latest proposal to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Driscoll's close relationship with JD Vance has placed a close associate of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the center of Donald Trump latest effort to conclude the conflict.

Prior to his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or statesman, and his early attempts to sell the deal to European policymakers were labeled chaotic.

Driscoll's strong ties with Vance, who he studied and maintains a personal bond, signal the resurgence of the non-interventionist vice-president in talks to resolve the Ukraine war.

Vance's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

It was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous first visit to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is again resisting pressure from the US to accept a quick deal that local officials have described as a surrender.

Following a tumultuous first year in office, international decisions in the White House are said to be shaped by a handful of Trump's top advisers, including top aide Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“All objection of the peace framework the administration is working on either misinterprets the proposal or misrepresents some key situation on the ground,” Vance stated.

Initial Attempts and European Responses

Vance's early attempts at hammering out a peace deal with Russia, while also seeking to restore ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, meanwhile, were irritated by his initial speeches, 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 supporters.

But, the new peace deal mirrored his stances, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been under fire for endorsing a ceasefire plan that mostly resembles Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

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

“Peace will not be made by unsuccessful negotiators or politicians residing in a dream world,” he added. “An agreement might be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

Additionally, it was Vance who continued on the introduction of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his staff with obtaining a agreement on the peace deal before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Private Concerns

Vance's stance was a notably more enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal than that given by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a uncertain stature inside the administration to more stable standing.

Rubio was part of a US delegation that traveled to Geneva this weekend to meet with Ukrainian officials to help refine the initial 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more palatable to authorities in Kyiv.

But, his first reaction to the deal was tepid:

“Stopping a complicated and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough discussion of substantive and realistic ideas,” Rubio stated recently. “And, achieving a lasting ceasefire will necessitate both sides to agree to challenging but essential concessions. That is why we are and will continue to develop a set of potential solutions for resolving this conflict based on feedback from both sides of this war.”

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

“Rubio made a call to us this afternoon and I think he made it very clear to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was delivered to one of our representatives,” stated Rounds. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “The framework is presented as a solid framework for continuing discussions. It is based on feedback from the Russian side. However, it is additionally informed by earlier and ongoing input from Ukraine.”