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The US Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an unlikely diplomat for the Trump administration latest initiative to end 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 President Trump's recent push to conclude the war.

Before his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or statesman, and his early attempts to sell the deal to European policymakers were described as turbulent.

His strong ties with Vance, who he attended Yale and maintains a personal bond, indicate the rising influence of the isolationist vice-president in talks to end the Ukraine war.

The VP's Involvement in Ceasefire Efforts

This was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous initial visit to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is once again pushing back against pressure from the US to agree to a quick deal that local officials have described as a capitulation.

After a tumultuous initial year in power, international decisions in the White House are said to be influenced by a small group of Trump's top aides, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken advocate of the latest plan, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, alongside the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“All criticism of the peace framework the administration is developing either misinterprets the framework or misstates some critical reality on the ground,” Vance wrote.

Early Efforts and EU Responses

Vance's early efforts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to restore ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. European officials, meanwhile, were irritated by his early speeches, in which he accused them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and right-leaning views similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the new peace deal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful spokespeople for the agreement in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a ceasefire plan that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance asserted that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to each party, and prevent the conflict from restarting.

“A ceasefire will not be made by unsuccessful negotiators or officials residing in a fantasy land,” he continued. “An agreement could be made by intelligent people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who continued on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal 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 Private Doubts

That was a distinctly more enthusiastic endorsement of the plan than that expressed by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the administration who has transitioned from a shaky position inside the administration to more firm standing.

Rubio was part of a US delegation that traveled to Geneva this weekend to meet with Ukrainian officials to help moderate the initial 28-point peace plan in order to make it more acceptable to authorities in Kyiv.

But, his initial reaction to the deal was lukewarm:

“Stopping a complex and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of substantive and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio wrote recently. “Furthermore, securing a durable ceasefire will require each party to consent to difficult but necessary compromises. This is the reason we are and will continue to create a list of potential ideas for resolving this conflict drawing from feedback from each party of this war.”

Behind closed doors, he was reportedly much more skeptical of the plan. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds said last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called legislators to clarify that the agreement was just a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the administration.

“Rubio did make a call to us this afternoon and I believe he made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a offer that was presented to one of our representatives,” said Rounds. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he subsequently stated. “It is offered as a solid structure for continuing negotiations. It is based on feedback from the Moscow. But, it is additionally based on earlier and current input from Ukraine.”