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America's Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the White House's latest initiative to end the conflict in Ukraine. His close relationship with Vice President Vance has placed a close associate of the Euroskeptic VP at the forefront of Donald Trump recent effort to conclude the war.

Prior to his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or statesman, and his early efforts to sell the agreement to European policymakers were described as turbulent.

His strong relationship with Vance, who he attended Yale and shares a close friendship, indicate the rising influence of the non-interventionist VP in talks to end the Ukraine war.

Vance's Involvement in Peace Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in 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 resisting pressure from the US to accept a swift deal that local officials have described as a surrender.

Following a tumultuous first year in office, foreign policy actions in the White House are said to be influenced by a handful of Trump's top advisers, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

Vance has been a vocal advocate of the latest plan, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, alongside the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every criticism of the ceasefire plan the White House is working on either misunderstands the proposal or misrepresents some critical reality on the ground,” Vance wrote.

Early Attempts and EU Responses

Vance's early attempts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were irritated by his early speeches, in which he charged them of running from their voters, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and right-leaning positions similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the new peace deal mirrored his stances, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a ceasefire plan that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In posts this weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to produce a truce that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to each party, and stop the conflict from restarting.

“Peace will not be made by failed negotiators or politicians living in a dream world,” he continued. “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 phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly tasked his team with securing a agreement on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Internal Doubts

Vance's stance was a distinctly more enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal than that given by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the administration who has gone from a shaky position inside the White House to more firm footing.

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

But, his first reaction to the deal was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and violent war such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive discussion of serious and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio wrote recently. “And, securing a lasting peace will require both sides to agree to difficult but essential compromises. That is why we are and will continue to develop a set of possible solutions for resolving this conflict based on input from each party of this conflict.”

In private, he was reportedly much more doubtful 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 just a preliminary offer from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the administration.

“The Secretary made a phone call to us this afternoon and I think 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 peace plan.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he subsequently stated. “It is offered as a strong structure for continuing discussions. The proposal is based on feedback from the Russian side. But, it is also informed by previous and current contributions from Ukraine.”