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

Before his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or statesman, and his initial efforts to sell the agreement to European policymakers were labeled turbulent.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, who he studied and maintains a personal bond, signal the resurgence of the non-interventionist vice-president in negotiations to end the Ukraine war.

The VP's Involvement in Ceasefire Negotiations

It was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's rocky initial visit to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is once again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a quick deal that local officials have described as a capitulation.

Following a chaotic initial year in office, international decisions in the White House are said to be shaped by a small group of Trump's key aides, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

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

“Every criticism of the ceasefire plan the White House is working on either misinterprets the framework or misrepresents some critical situation on the ground,” Vance wrote.

Initial Attempts and EU Reactions

Vance's early attempts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while also attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were angered by his early remarks, 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.

But, the new ceasefire proposal 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 under fire for accepting a ceasefire plan that mostly resembles Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to both sides, and stop the conflict from resuming.

“Peace won’t be made by failed diplomats or politicians residing in a fantasy land,” he added. “An agreement might be made by smart people operating in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who continued on the introduction of the peace plan in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly tasked his staff with obtaining a signature on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Private Doubts

That was a notably more full-throated endorsement of the plan than that expressed by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a shaky stature inside the White House to more stable footing.

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

But, his initial reaction to the agreement was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of substantive and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “And, achieving a lasting ceasefire will necessitate both sides to consent to challenging but necessary compromises. That is why we are and will continue to create a list of potential ideas for resolving this conflict drawing from feedback from both sides of this conflict.”

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

“The Secretary made a call to us this afternoon and I think he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was delivered to one of our officials,” said Rounds. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. The proposal is based on feedback from the Moscow. But, it is additionally informed by earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”