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The US Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, was an unlikely envoy for the White House's latest proposal to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His strong relationship with Vice President Vance has placed a close associate of the Euroskeptic VP at the forefront of President Trump's recent push to settle the war.

Before his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or diplomat, and his early attempts to promote the agreement to European policymakers were labeled turbulent.

Driscoll's close ties with Vance, who he attended Yale and shares a close friendship, signal the resurgence of the isolationist vice-president in talks to end the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Role in Ceasefire Negotiations

It was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's disastrous first trip to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is again pushing back against demands from the US to accept a swift deal that Ukrainian leaders have called a surrender.

After a chaotic first year in power, international actions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a small group of Trump's top advisers, including top aide Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“All criticism of the ceasefire plan the administration is developing either misinterprets the proposal or misrepresents some critical reality on the ground,” Vance stated.

Initial Efforts and EU Reactions

Vance's initial attempts at hammering out a peace deal with Russia, while also attempting to renew ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he charged them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and right-leaning views similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

However, the new ceasefire proposal closely resembled his stances, and he has been one of the most forceful spokespeople for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for endorsing a ceasefire plan that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In posts this past weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to both sides, and stop the conflict from restarting.

“A ceasefire will not be made by failed negotiators or politicians living in a fantasy land,” he continued. “An agreement could be made by intelligent people living in the real world.”

It was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his team with obtaining a signature on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Response and Internal Concerns

Vance's stance was a notably more enthusiastic support of the proposal than that given by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the administration who has gone from a uncertain stature inside the administration to more firm footing.

Rubio was part of a US team that traveled to Geneva this weekend to confer with Ukrainian leaders to help refine the original 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more palatable to authorities in Kyiv.

But, his first reaction to the deal was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive exchange of substantive and realistic proposals,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “Furthermore, achieving a lasting ceasefire will require each party to consent to challenging but necessary compromises. That is why we are and will continue to develop a list of potential solutions for resolving this war drawing from input from each party of this war.”

In private, he was said to be much more skeptical of the proposal. The Republican senator Mike Rounds stated recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to explain that the deal was just a preliminary offer from the Russians and not an plan advocated by the White House.

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

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he later wrote. “It is offered as a strong structure for ongoing discussions. It is based on input from the Moscow. But, it is also informed by earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”