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The US Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an unlikely diplomat for the White House's newest initiative to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His strong connection with Vice President Vance has placed a key ally of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the forefront of President Trump's recent effort to conclude the war.

Prior to his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or statesman, and his early attempts to promote the deal to officials in Europe were described as turbulent.

His strong relationship with Vance, who he attended Yale and maintains a personal bond, indicate the resurgence of the isolationist VP in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Role in Peace Negotiations

This was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's rocky first visit to the 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 settlement that local officials have called a capitulation.

After a tumultuous initial year in office, foreign policy actions in the White House are said to be influenced by a small group of Trump's top advisers, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative advisor Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken supporter of the latest plan, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, alongside the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“All criticism of the peace framework the White House is developing either misinterprets the proposal or misstates some key situation on the ground,” Vance wrote.

Early Efforts and EU Reactions

Vance's initial attempts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also attempting to restore relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were angered by his early speeches, in which he charged them of ignoring their voters, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and conservative views close to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the new peace deal 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 criticized for accepting a peace framework that mostly resembles Vladimir Putin's maximalist terms.

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

“Peace won’t be made by unsuccessful diplomats or officials living in a fantasy land,” he added. “An agreement might be made by intelligent people operating in the real world.”

Additionally, it was Vance who continued on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly instructed his staff with obtaining a agreement on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Response and Private Concerns

That was a distinctly more enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal than that given by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the administration who has transitioned from a uncertain stature inside the administration to more stable standing.

Rubio was a member of a US team that went to Geneva this past weekend to meet with Ukrainian leaders to help moderate the initial 28-point peace plan in order to make it more palatable to leaders in Kyiv.

But, his first reaction to the agreement was tepid:

“Ending a complex and violent war such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough exchange of serious and realistic proposals,” Rubio wrote recently. “And, securing a lasting ceasefire will require each party to consent to challenging but necessary compromises. That is why we are and will persist to develop a set of possible solutions for ending this conflict drawing from input from both sides of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be much more doubtful of the plan. The Republican senator Mike Rounds stated last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called legislators to clarify that the deal was merely a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the administration.

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

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he subsequently stated. “It is presented as a strong structure for ongoing negotiations. The proposal is based on input from the Russian side. But, it is additionally based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”