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The US Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an unlikely envoy for the White House's latest initiative to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close relationship with JD Vance has positioned a close associate of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the center of Donald Trump latest push to settle the conflict.

Prior to his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or diplomat, and his initial efforts to sell the agreement to officials in Europe were described as chaotic.

His strong ties with Vance, with whom he studied and maintains a personal bond, indicate the resurgence of the non-interventionist VP in negotiations to end the Ukraine war.

The VP's Role in Ceasefire Negotiations

It was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's disastrous first trip to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is again pushing back against pressure from the US to agree to a swift deal that Ukrainian leaders have described as a surrender.

After a chaotic first year in power, international actions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a small group of Trump's top aides, including top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

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

“All criticism of the peace framework the White House is working on either misunderstands the proposal or misrepresents some critical reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Initial Efforts and European Responses

Vance's early attempts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. European officials, in turn, were irritated by his initial remarks, in which he accused them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and right-leaning views close to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the recently published peace deal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the deal in the government, even as the US has been under fire for endorsing a ceasefire plan that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In posts this weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a truce that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to both sides, and prevent the war from resuming.

“Peace won’t be made by unsuccessful negotiators or officials living in a dream world,” he continued. “It might be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his staff with obtaining a signature on the peace deal before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Response and Internal Doubts

Vance's stance was a notably more full-throated endorsement of the plan than that given by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the government who has gone from a shaky position inside the administration to more stable standing.

Rubio was a member of a US delegation that traveled to Geneva this past weekend to meet with Ukrainian officials to help refine the initial 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more acceptable to authorities in Kyiv.

However, his initial response to the deal was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and violent war such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive exchange of substantive and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, securing a durable ceasefire will necessitate both sides to agree to challenging but essential compromises. This is the reason we are and will continue to develop a list of potential solutions for ending this war drawing from input from both sides of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, 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 deal was just a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the administration.

“Rubio did make a phone call to us this afternoon and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was presented to one of our officials,” said Rounds. “It is not our suggestion, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio acted swiftly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he subsequently stated. “The framework is presented as a strong framework for continuing discussions. It is derived from input from the Russian side. However, it is additionally informed by earlier and ongoing input from Ukraine.”