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America's Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an surprising envoy for the White House's latest proposal to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. His strong relationship with Vice President Vance has positioned a close associate of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the forefront of Donald Trump recent effort to settle the war.

Before his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or statesman, and his early efforts to promote the agreement to officials in Europe were described as chaotic.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, with whom he studied and shares a close friendship, indicate the resurgence of the isolationist vice-president in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Involvement in Peace Efforts

This was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky first trip to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is once again resisting pressure from the US to agree to a quick settlement that Ukrainian leaders have described as a surrender.

After a tumultuous initial year in office, foreign policy decisions in the White House are said to be influenced by a handful of Trump's top advisers, such as top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken advocate of the latest proposal, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, together with the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“All criticism of the ceasefire plan the administration is working on either misinterprets the proposal or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Attempts and European Responses

Vance's initial efforts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, in turn, were angered by his initial remarks, in which he charged them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and right-leaning positions close to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the recently published peace deal mirrored his stances, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the deal in the government, even as the US has been under fire for endorsing a peace framework that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In posts this weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to each party, and prevent the war from resuming.

“Peace will not be made by failed diplomats or politicians living in a fantasy land,” he continued. “It could be made by intelligent people operating in the actual situation.”

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the peace plan in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his staff with obtaining a agreement on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Internal Concerns

Vance's stance was a distinctly more full-throated endorsement of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hardliner in the government who has transitioned from a shaky position inside the administration to more firm footing.

Rubio was part of a US delegation that traveled to Geneva this past weekend to meet with Ukrainian leaders to help moderate the initial 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more acceptable to leaders in Kyiv.

But, his initial reaction to the deal was lukewarm:

“Stopping a complicated and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive exchange of serious and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “Furthermore, achieving a lasting peace will necessitate both sides to agree to difficult but essential compromises. This is the reason we are and will continue to create a list of possible ideas for resolving this war based on feedback from both sides of this conflict.”

In private, 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 contacted lawmakers to clarify that the deal was just a initial proposal from the Russians and not an plan advocated by the administration.

“Rubio did make a phone call to us this day and I think he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was presented to one of our representatives,” said Rounds. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “It is presented as a strong framework for continuing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But, it is additionally informed by earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”