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America's Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, was an surprising envoy for the White House's latest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close connection with Vice President Vance has positioned a close associate of the Eurosceptic VP at the center of President Trump's recent push to settle the conflict.

Prior to his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or diplomat, and his early attempts to promote the agreement to European policymakers were described as chaotic.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, with whom he attended Yale and maintains a personal bond, indicate the rising influence of the isolationist vice-president in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Involvement in Peace Negotiations

This was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky first visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is again resisting pressure from the US to agree to a quick settlement that Ukrainian leaders have called a capitulation.

Following a tumultuous first year in office, international actions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a handful of Trump's top aides, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“All objection of the ceasefire plan the administration is developing either misunderstands the framework or misrepresents some critical situation on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Early Attempts and European Responses

Vance's initial attempts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while also seeking to restore relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. European officials, in turn, were angered by his early speeches, in which he accused them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and conservative positions close to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the recently published peace deal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the agreement in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a ceasefire plan that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to produce a truce that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to each party, and stop the war from restarting.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by failed negotiators or politicians residing in a fantasy land,” he added. “It might be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly instructed his team with securing a agreement on the peace deal before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Internal Concerns

That was a distinctly more full-throated support of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hardliner in the administration who has gone from a shaky stature inside the administration to more firm footing.

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

But, his initial reaction to the agreement was lukewarm:

“Ending a complicated and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough discussion of serious and realistic proposals,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, securing a durable peace will require both sides to consent to challenging but necessary compromises. That is why we are and will persist to develop a set of potential solutions for resolving this war drawing from input from each party of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be much more doubtful of the plan. 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 agreement was just a initial proposal from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the administration.

“The Secretary made a phone call to us this afternoon and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a proposal that was presented to one of our officials,” stated Rounds. “It is not our suggestion, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “It is offered as a strong structure for ongoing negotiations. It is derived from input from the Moscow. However, it is additionally informed by previous and current contributions from Ukraine.”