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America's Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, was an unlikely diplomat for the Trump administration newest proposal to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. His strong relationship with Vice President Vance has placed a close associate of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the forefront of Donald Trump latest effort to settle the war.

Prior to his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or diplomat, and his early efforts to promote the deal to officials in Europe were labeled chaotic.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, who he attended Yale and shares a close friendship, signal the resurgence of the non-interventionist VP in talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Role in Peace Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's disastrous initial trip to the White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is again resisting demands from the US to agree to a swift deal that Ukrainian leaders have described as a surrender.

Following a tumultuous initial year in office, foreign policy actions in the White House are said to be shaped by a small group of Trump's key aides, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a vocal supporter of the recent proposal, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, together with the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“All objection of the ceasefire plan the White House is working on either misunderstands the framework or misrepresents some critical reality on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Initial Attempts and EU Responses

Vance's initial efforts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also seeking to restore ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he charged them of ignoring their voters, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and conservative views similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the recently published ceasefire proposal mirrored his stances, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a peace framework that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist terms.

In posts this weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to establish a truce that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to both sides, and stop the conflict from resuming.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by failed negotiators or officials residing in a fantasy land,” he added. “An agreement might be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the peace plan in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his staff with securing a signature on the peace deal before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Internal Concerns

That was a distinctly more enthusiastic support of the plan than that given by the secretary of state and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a uncertain position inside the White House to more stable standing.

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

But, his initial response to the deal was lukewarm:

“Stopping a complicated and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive exchange of serious and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio wrote recently. “And, securing a lasting peace will necessitate each party to agree to challenging but essential concessions. That is why we are and will continue to create a set of possible ideas for resolving this war drawing from input from each party of this war.”

In private, he was said to be much more doubtful of the proposal. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds said recently 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 advocated by the administration.

“The Secretary did make a phone call to us this afternoon and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a proposal that was presented to one of our representatives,” 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 wrote. “It is offered as a strong structure for ongoing negotiations. It is derived from feedback from the Moscow. But, it is also informed by earlier and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”