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America's Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an surprising envoy for the Trump administration newest initiative to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close relationship with Vice President Vance has positioned a key ally of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the center of President Trump's latest push to settle the conflict.

Before his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or statesman, and his initial attempts to sell the deal to officials in Europe were described as turbulent.

Driscoll's close ties with Vance, with whom he attended Yale and maintains a personal bond, indicate the rising influence of the non-interventionist VP in talks to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Involvement in Peace Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous initial visit to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is again resisting pressure from the US to agree to a swift deal that Ukrainian leaders have described as a surrender.

After a chaotic first year in power, foreign policy decisions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a handful of Trump's key aides, 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 vocal supporter of the latest plan, which was developed 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 misrepresents some critical reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Attempts and European Reactions

Vance's early attempts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. European officials, in turn, were irritated by his initial speeches, in which he accused them of ignoring their constituents, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and right-leaning positions close to those of Trump's own constituency.

However, the recently published ceasefire proposal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful spokespeople for the agreement in the administration, even as the US has been under fire for accepting a peace framework that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In posts this weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to produce a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to both sides, and prevent the war from resuming.

“Peace won’t be made by unsuccessful diplomats or politicians living 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 presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his staff with securing a signature on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Internal Concerns

That was a notably more full-throated endorsement of the plan than that given by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a uncertain stature inside the White House to more stable footing.

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

However, his initial response to the agreement was lukewarm:

“Ending a complex and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough exchange of substantive and realistic proposals,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, securing a lasting peace will require both sides to consent to challenging but necessary compromises. That is why we are and will persist to create a list of possible solutions 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 recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted legislators to explain that the deal was just a preliminary offer from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the administration.

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

Rubio acted swiftly to fall in line. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “It is offered as a solid structure for continuing negotiations. It is based on feedback from the Russian side. However, it is additionally based on earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”