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The US Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an unlikely diplomat for the Trump administration latest proposal to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. His close connection with JD Vance has positioned a key ally of the Euroskeptic VP at the forefront of Donald Trump recent effort to settle the war.

Before his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or diplomat, and his initial efforts to promote the agreement to officials in Europe were labeled turbulent.

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

Vance's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

This was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's disastrous first trip to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is once again resisting demands from the US to agree to a swift deal that local officials have described as a capitulation.

After a tumultuous first year in power, international decisions in the White House are said to be shaped by a handful of Trump's top advisers, such as top aide Susie Wiles, conservative advisor Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

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

“Every objection of the peace framework the White House is working on either misinterprets the proposal or misstates some critical situation on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Attempts and European Reactions

Vance's early attempts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to restore relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were angered by his early remarks, in which he accused them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and right-leaning positions close to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the new peace deal mirrored his stances, and he has been one of the most assertive spokespeople for the agreement in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for endorsing a ceasefire plan that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist terms.

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

“Peace won’t be made by failed diplomats or politicians residing in a dream world,” he continued. “An agreement could be made by smart people operating in the real world.”

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.

Rubio's Reaction and Private Doubts

That was a distinctly more full-throated support of the plan than that expressed by the secretary of state and national security adviser, 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 leaders to help moderate the initial 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more palatable to leaders in Kyiv.

However, his initial reaction to the agreement was lukewarm:

“Ending a complicated and violent war such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive discussion of serious and realistic ideas,” Rubio wrote recently. “And, achieving a durable peace will necessitate both sides to agree to difficult but essential compromises. That is why we are and will continue to develop a list of potential ideas for resolving this conflict based on feedback from each party of this conflict.”

In private, he was reportedly much more skeptical of the plan. The Republican senator Mike Rounds said last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called legislators to explain that the deal was merely a initial proposal from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the administration.

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

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “It is offered as a solid framework for ongoing negotiations. The proposal is based on feedback from the Russian side. However, it is also informed by earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”