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The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an unlikely envoy for the Trump administration newest proposal to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close relationship with Vice President Vance has positioned a key ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the forefront of President Trump's latest push to settle the war.

Prior to his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or diplomat, and his initial efforts to promote the agreement to officials in Europe were labeled turbulent.

Driscoll's close ties with Vance, who he studied and maintains a close friendship, signal the rising influence of the non-interventionist VP in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Role in Ceasefire Negotiations

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky initial trip to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is again pushing back against pressure from the US to agree to a swift settlement that Ukrainian leaders have described as a capitulation.

After a tumultuous first year in office, foreign policy decisions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a small group of Trump's key advisers, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a vocal supporter of the recent proposal, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, alongside the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every objection of the ceasefire plan the White House is developing either misinterprets the framework or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” Vance wrote.

Initial Attempts and EU Reactions

Vance's initial efforts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to restore relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were angered by his early remarks, in which he accused them of ignoring their constituents, who Vance said held anti-immigration and right-leaning views similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the recently published 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 under fire for endorsing a ceasefire plan that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In posts this weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to each party, and prevent the war from resuming.

“Peace will not be made by unsuccessful negotiators or officials living in a fantasy land,” he continued. “It could be made by intelligent people operating in the real world.”

It was Vance who followed up on the introduction of the peace plan in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his staff with securing a agreement on the peace deal before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Internal Concerns

That was a distinctly more enthusiastic support of the plan than that given by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the administration who has gone from a shaky stature inside the White House to more firm standing.

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

However, his first response to the agreement was lukewarm:

“Ending a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough exchange of substantive and realistic ideas,” Rubio wrote recently. “And, securing a lasting ceasefire will require each party to agree to difficult but essential concessions. That is why we are and will continue to create a list of possible solutions for ending this war drawing from feedback from each party of this war.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be much more doubtful of the proposal. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to clarify that the deal was merely a initial offer from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the White House.

“The Secretary did make a call to us this day and I believe he made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was delivered to one of our officials,” said Rounds. “The document is not our suggestion, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “The framework is offered as a strong structure for continuing negotiations. It is derived from feedback from the Russian side. However, it is additionally based on previous and current input from Ukraine.”