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America's Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an surprising envoy for the White House's newest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's strong connection with JD Vance has placed a key ally of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the center of President Trump's recent effort to conclude the conflict.

Before his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or diplomat, and his early attempts to promote the deal to officials in Europe were labeled turbulent.

His strong relationship with Vance, who he attended Yale and shares a close friendship, indicate the rising influence of the isolationist VP in negotiations to end the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Role in Peace Negotiations

This was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous first trip to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a swift settlement that local officials have called a surrender.

Following a chaotic first year in power, international decisions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a small group of Trump's top advisers, such as top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

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

“All criticism of the ceasefire plan the White House is working on either misunderstands the framework or misrepresents some critical situation on the ground,” Vance wrote.

Early Attempts and European Reactions

Vance's early efforts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously seeking to restore ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, meanwhile, were angered by his early speeches, in which he accused them of running from their constituents, who Vance said held restrictionist and conservative views close to those of Trump's own supporters.

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

In posts this past weekend, Vance asserted that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a truce that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to each party, and stop the war from resuming.

“Peace will not be made by unsuccessful diplomats or politicians residing in a fantasy land,” he added. “It could be made by smart people operating in the actual situation.”

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the introduction of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his team with securing a agreement on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Private Concerns

That was a notably more full-throated support of the proposal than that expressed by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the government who has gone from a shaky position inside the White House to more stable standing.

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

However, his initial response to the deal was tepid:

“Stopping a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough discussion of substantive and realistic ideas,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, securing a durable ceasefire will necessitate both sides to agree to challenging but essential concessions. This is the reason we are and will continue to develop a set of possible ideas for resolving this war drawing from 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 lawmakers to explain that the agreement was just a initial offer from the Russians and not an plan advocated by the administration.

“The Secretary made a phone call to us this afternoon and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a offer that was delivered to one of our representatives,” said Rounds. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he later wrote. “It is presented as a solid framework for ongoing negotiations. It is derived from feedback from the Russian side. But, it is also based on previous and current input from Ukraine.”