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America's Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an surprising envoy for the Trump administration newest initiative to end the conflict in Ukraine. Driscoll's close relationship with Vice President Vance has positioned a key ally of the Euroskeptic VP at the forefront of President Trump's recent effort to conclude the conflict.

Before his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or statesman, and his early efforts to sell the deal to European policymakers were labeled turbulent.

His strong ties with Vance, who he studied and maintains a personal bond, indicate the resurgence of the isolationist vice-president in talks to end the Ukraine war.

The VP's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

This was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's rocky initial visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is again pushing back against demands from the US to accept a swift settlement that Ukrainian leaders have called a surrender.

Following a chaotic initial year in power, foreign policy actions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a small group of Trump's top advisers, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“All objection of the ceasefire plan the administration is developing either misinterprets the framework or misstates some critical reality on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Early Efforts and EU Responses

Vance's early efforts at hammering out a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously seeking to restore ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, meanwhile, were irritated by his initial remarks, 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 supporters.

But, the recently published ceasefire proposal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the deal in the government, even as the US has been criticized for endorsing a peace framework that mostly resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to establish a truce that respected Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to both sides, and prevent the conflict from restarting.

“Peace will not be made by failed negotiators or politicians living in a fantasy land,” he continued. “An agreement might be made by intelligent people living in the real world.”

It was Vance who continued on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly tasked his staff with securing a signature on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Internal Concerns

That was a notably more full-throated support of the plan than that given by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hardliner in the government who has gone from a shaky position inside the White House to more firm footing.

Rubio was part of a US delegation that went to Geneva this weekend to confer with Ukrainian leaders to help moderate the initial 28-point peace plan in order to make it more palatable to authorities in Kyiv.

But, his initial reaction to the agreement was tepid:

“Stopping a complicated and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough exchange of substantive and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “Furthermore, achieving a durable ceasefire will necessitate both sides to agree to challenging but necessary concessions. That is why we are and will continue to develop a set of possible ideas for ending this conflict based on input from each party of this war.”

Behind closed doors, he was reportedly much more skeptical of the proposal. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to explain that the deal was just a initial proposal from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the White House.

“Rubio did make a call to us this afternoon and I believe he made it very clear 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 fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he later wrote. “The framework is offered as a solid structure for continuing negotiations. The proposal is based on input from the Russian side. But, it is also informed by previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”