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America's Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, was an unlikely envoy for the White House's newest initiative to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. His strong connection with JD Vance has placed a close associate of the Eurosceptic VP at the center of President Trump's recent effort to settle the conflict.

Prior to his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or statesman, and his early efforts to sell the agreement to officials in Europe were labeled chaotic.

Driscoll's strong ties with Vance, who he studied and shares a personal bond, signal the resurgence of the isolationist VP in talks to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Role in Peace Efforts

It was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's disastrous first trip to the White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is once again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a quick settlement that local officials have described as a capitulation.

Following a chaotic first year in office, international actions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a handful of Trump's top advisers, such as top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a vocal supporter of the latest proposal, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, alongside the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“All objection of the peace framework the White House is developing either misunderstands the proposal or misstates some key reality on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Initial Attempts and European Responses

Vance's initial attempts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were irritated by his early remarks, in which he accused them of ignoring their constituents, who Vance said held anti-immigration and conservative views similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the new ceasefire proposal closely resembled 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 largely echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist terms.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a truce that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to both sides, and prevent the conflict from restarting.

“A ceasefire will not be made by failed diplomats or politicians residing in a dream world,” he added. “An agreement might be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who continued on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his team with securing a agreement on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Response and Private Concerns

Vance's stance was a distinctly more enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hardliner in the administration who has gone from a shaky position inside the White House to more firm standing.

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

However, his initial response to the deal was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough exchange of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, achieving a lasting ceasefire will necessitate each party to consent to difficult but essential concessions. That is why we are and will persist to create a list of possible solutions for resolving this war drawing from feedback from each party of this conflict.”

In private, he was reportedly much more skeptical of the plan. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to explain that the deal was merely a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the administration.

“The Secretary did make a call to us this day and I believe he made it very clear to us that we are the receivers 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 fall in line. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he later stated. “The framework is offered as a solid framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Moscow. However, it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”