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America's Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration newest proposal to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's strong relationship with Vice President Vance has positioned a key ally of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the forefront of President Trump's recent effort to conclude the war.

Prior to his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or diplomat, and his early attempts to sell the agreement to officials in Europe were described as chaotic.

His strong relationship with Vance, who he attended Yale and maintains a close friendship, signal the rising influence of the non-interventionist vice-president in talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Involvement in Ceasefire Negotiations

It was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky initial visit to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is again pushing back against demands from the US to accept a quick settlement that Ukrainian leaders have described as a surrender.

After a tumultuous first year in office, international decisions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a small group of Trump's key advisers, including top aide Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a vocal advocate of the recent proposal, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, alongside the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

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

Initial Attempts and EU Responses

Vance's early efforts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he charged them of running from their voters, who Vance said held anti-immigration and conservative views close to those of Trump's own constituency.

However, the recently published ceasefire proposal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful spokespeople for the agreement in the government, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a peace framework that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to both sides, and stop the war from resuming.

“Peace will not be made by unsuccessful negotiators or officials residing in a dream world,” he continued. “An agreement might be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

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

Rubio's Reaction and Private Doubts

That was a distinctly more enthusiastic endorsement of the plan than that expressed by the secretary of state and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a uncertain stature inside the administration to more firm footing.

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

But, his first response to the deal was tepid:

“Stopping a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive discussion of substantive and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “Furthermore, securing a lasting ceasefire will necessitate both sides to consent to difficult but necessary concessions. This is the reason we are and will continue to develop a set of potential ideas for ending this conflict based on feedback from both sides of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be 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 lawmakers to explain that the deal was merely a preliminary offer from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the administration.

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

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he later stated. “The framework is presented as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. The proposal is derived from input from the Moscow. However, it is additionally based on earlier and current input from Ukraine.”