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The US Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration newest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His strong connection with JD Vance has positioned a key ally of the Euroskeptic VP at the center of President Trump's latest effort to settle the war.

Before his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or diplomat, and his initial attempts to sell the agreement to European policymakers were labeled turbulent.

His strong relationship with Vance, who he attended Yale and maintains a personal bond, signal the resurgence of the isolationist vice-president in talks to resolve the Ukraine war.

Vance's Role in Peace Negotiations

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky initial trip to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is once again resisting demands from the US to accept a quick settlement that local officials have called a surrender.

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

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

“Every objection of the peace framework the administration is developing either misinterprets the framework or misstates some critical situation on the ground,” Vance wrote.

Early Attempts and European Responses

Vance's early efforts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously seeking to restore ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, meanwhile, were irritated by his initial speeches, in which he charged them of ignoring their constituents, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and right-leaning views similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the recently published peace deal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive spokespeople for the agreement in the government, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a ceasefire plan that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In posts this past weekend, Vance asserted that a ceasefire agreement would have to establish a ceasefire that respected Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to each party, and prevent the war from resuming.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by failed diplomats or politicians residing in a dream world,” he added. “An agreement might be made by smart 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 obtaining a signature on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Internal Doubts

Vance's stance was a distinctly more enthusiastic support of the plan than that expressed by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a uncertain position inside the White House to more stable footing.

Rubio was a member of a US delegation that traveled to Geneva this weekend to confer with Ukrainian officials to help refine the initial 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more acceptable to authorities in Kyiv.

However, his initial reaction to the deal was lukewarm:

“Stopping a complicated and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive exchange of serious and realistic ideas,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, achieving a durable peace will necessitate each party to agree to challenging but essential compromises. That is why we are and will continue to create a list of potential solutions for resolving this conflict based on input from each party of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, he was reportedly 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 lawmakers to clarify that the agreement was just a initial offer from the Russians and not an plan advocated by the White House.

“Rubio did make a phone call to us this afternoon and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a offer that was presented to one of our officials,” stated Rounds. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to fall in line. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he later stated. “The framework is offered as a strong framework for continuing discussions. It is based on input from the Russian side. But, it is also informed by earlier and current input from Ukraine.”