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The US Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, was an surprising envoy for the Trump administration latest proposal to end the conflict in Ukraine. His strong connection with Vice President Vance has placed a close associate of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the forefront of Donald Trump latest push to settle the war.

Prior to his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or statesman, and his initial attempts to promote the deal to European policymakers were described as chaotic.

His strong relationship with Vance, with whom he studied and shares a close friendship, signal the resurgence of the isolationist vice-president in talks to end the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Role in Peace Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky initial visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is again resisting demands from the US to agree to a swift deal that Ukrainian leaders have called a surrender.

After a tumultuous initial year in office, foreign policy actions in the White House are said to be influenced by a handful of Trump's top advisers, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

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

“All objection of the peace framework the White House is working on either misinterprets the proposal or misstates some key situation on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Initial Attempts and European Responses

Vance's initial efforts at hammering out a peace deal with Russia, while also seeking to renew relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were angered by his early speeches, in which he accused them of running from their voters, who Vance said held anti-immigration and conservative positions similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the new ceasefire proposal mirrored his stances, and he has been one of the most forceful spokespeople for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been under fire for endorsing a peace framework that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a truce that respected Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to each party, and prevent the war from resuming.

“Peace won’t be made by unsuccessful negotiators or politicians living in a fantasy land,” he continued. “An agreement might be made by intelligent people living in the real world.”

Additionally, it was Vance who continued on the introduction of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his staff with securing a signature on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Internal Doubts

Vance's stance was a distinctly more full-throated support of the plan than that expressed by the secretary of state and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a shaky position inside the administration to more stable footing.

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

But, his first reaction to the agreement was lukewarm:

“Stopping a complicated and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive discussion of substantive and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “Furthermore, securing a durable peace will require both sides to consent to difficult but necessary compromises. This is the reason we are and will continue to develop a list of possible solutions for resolving this war drawing from feedback from each party of this war.”

In private, he was said to be much more skeptical of the proposal. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated recently 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 initiative pushed by the White House.

“Rubio made a call to us this day and I think he made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was presented to one of our representatives,” stated Rounds. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to fall in line. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he subsequently stated. “The framework is offered as a solid framework for ongoing negotiations. It is derived from input from the Moscow. However, it is also based on earlier and ongoing input from Ukraine.”