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The US Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, was an unlikely diplomat for the Trump administration latest proposal to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. His strong relationship with Vice President Vance has placed a key ally of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the center of President Trump's recent effort to conclude the war.

Prior to his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or statesman, and his early efforts to promote the deal to European policymakers were described as turbulent.

Driscoll's strong ties with Vance, who he studied and shares a close friendship, indicate the resurgence of the non-interventionist vice-president in talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

This was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's rocky first visit to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is again pushing back against demands from the US to accept a quick settlement that Ukrainian leaders have described as a surrender.

Following a chaotic initial year in power, foreign policy decisions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a handful of Trump's top aides, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken advocate of the recent proposal, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, alongside the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every criticism of the peace framework the White House is working on either misinterprets the proposal or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Early Attempts and European Responses

Vance's early efforts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also seeking to restore relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, meanwhile, were angered by his early speeches, in which he accused them of running from their voters, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and conservative views close to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the recently published ceasefire proposal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive spokespeople for the deal in the government, even as the US has been under fire for accepting a ceasefire plan that mostly resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In posts this past weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to produce a truce that respected Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to both sides, and stop the war from resuming.

“Peace will not be made by unsuccessful diplomats or officials residing in a fantasy land,” he continued. “An agreement could be made by intelligent people operating in the real world.”

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the introduction of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his staff with obtaining a agreement on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Private Doubts

That was a distinctly more enthusiastic endorsement of the plan than that expressed by the secretary of state and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the government who has gone from a shaky position inside the administration to more firm footing.

Rubio was a member of a US delegation that went to Geneva this weekend to meet with Ukrainian officials to help moderate the original 28-point peace plan in order to make it more palatable to leaders in Kyiv.

However, his initial response to the agreement was lukewarm:

“Stopping a complex and violent war such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive discussion of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “And, achieving a durable peace will require each party to consent to difficult but essential concessions. That is why we are and will persist to develop a list of possible solutions for ending this conflict drawing from feedback from both sides of this conflict.”

In private, he was reportedly much more doubtful of the proposal. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds said last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted lawmakers to clarify that the agreement was merely a initial offer from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the White House.

“Rubio did make a call to us this afternoon and I think he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a proposal that was delivered to one of our officials,” said Rounds. “It 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 later stated. “It is presented as a solid framework for ongoing discussions. It is derived from input from the Russian side. But, it is also based on earlier and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”