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America's Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration newest initiative to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. His close relationship with JD Vance has placed a close associate of the Euroskeptic VP at the forefront of President Trump's latest effort to conclude the war.

Before his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or statesman, and his initial attempts to sell the agreement to officials in Europe were described as chaotic.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, with whom he studied and shares a personal bond, signal the resurgence of the isolationist VP in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

It was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's rocky first visit 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 accept a quick deal that Ukrainian leaders have described as a surrender.

Following a tumultuous first year in office, international decisions in the White House are said to be influenced by a small group of Trump's top advisers, such as top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, envoy 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 Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“All objection of the ceasefire plan the White House is developing either misinterprets the proposal or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Efforts and European Responses

Vance's initial attempts at hammering out a peace deal with Russia, while also seeking to renew ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were angered by his early speeches, in which he charged them of running from their constituents, who Vance said held anti-immigration and conservative views close to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the recently published peace deal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the agreement in the government, even as the US has been criticized for endorsing a peace framework that mostly resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In posts this weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to establish a truce that respected Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to both sides, and stop the conflict from resuming.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by unsuccessful diplomats or officials residing in a dream world,” he added. “It might be made by intelligent people operating in the actual situation.”

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

Rubio's Reaction and Private Concerns

That was a distinctly more enthusiastic support of the plan than that expressed by the secretary of state and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a shaky stature inside the White House to more firm standing.

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

But, his initial response to the agreement was tepid:

“Stopping a complicated and violent war such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive discussion of substantive and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “Furthermore, securing a lasting ceasefire will require both sides to consent to challenging but necessary compromises. That is why we are and will continue to create a set of potential ideas for ending this war based on feedback from each party of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, he was reportedly much more skeptical of the proposal. The Republican senator Mike Rounds said recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called legislators to clarify that the agreement was merely a initial proposal from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the administration.

“The Secretary did make a phone call to us this day and I think he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was delivered to one of our representatives,” stated Rounds. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to fall in line. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “The framework is offered as a strong framework for continuing discussions. It is based on feedback from the Moscow. But, it is also informed by earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”