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The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising envoy for the White House's latest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close relationship with Vice President Vance has placed a close associate of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the forefront of President Trump's latest effort to conclude the war.

Before his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or diplomat, and his early efforts to sell the deal to officials in Europe were described as turbulent.

His close ties with Vance, who he studied and maintains a close friendship, indicate the rising influence of the isolationist vice-president in negotiations to end the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Role in Peace Negotiations

It was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky first trip to the White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a swift deal that local officials have described as a capitulation.

Following a chaotic first year in office, international actions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a small group of Trump's key advisers, including top aide Susie Wiles, conservative advisor 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 crafted by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, alongside the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every objection of the peace framework the White House is working on either misunderstands the framework or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Efforts and European Responses

Vance's early efforts at hammering out a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. European officials, in turn, were irritated by his initial remarks, in which he accused them of running from their voters, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and right-leaning positions similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the new ceasefire proposal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for endorsing a peace framework that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to produce a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to both sides, and stop the war from restarting.

“Peace will not be made by unsuccessful diplomats or politicians living in a dream world,” he added. “An agreement could be made by smart people living in the real world.”

It was Vance who continued on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly tasked his staff with securing a signature on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Internal Doubts

Vance's stance was a distinctly more full-throated support of the proposal than that given by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the government who has gone from a shaky stature inside the administration to more firm standing.

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

However, his initial response to the deal was tepid:

“Stopping a complicated and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive exchange of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, achieving a durable peace will necessitate each party to consent to difficult but essential compromises. This is the reason we are and will continue to create a list of possible solutions for ending this conflict based on feedback from both sides of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, he was reportedly much more doubtful of the plan. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called legislators to explain that the deal was just a preliminary offer from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the White House.

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

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “The framework is presented as a strong structure for ongoing negotiations. The proposal is based on feedback from the Moscow. However, it is additionally informed by previous and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”