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The US Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, was an unlikely envoy for the Trump administration latest proposal to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. His close relationship with JD Vance has placed a close associate of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the forefront of President Trump's recent push to conclude the war.

Prior to his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or statesman, and his initial attempts to promote the agreement to officials in Europe were labeled chaotic.

Driscoll's strong relationship with Vance, with whom he studied and shares a personal bond, signal the resurgence of the isolationist VP in talks to end the Ukraine war.

Vance's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

This was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky first visit to the White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is once again pushing back against pressure from the US to accept a swift settlement that local officials have called a capitulation.

After a tumultuous initial year in power, foreign policy decisions in the White House are reportedly shaped by a handful of Trump's key advisers, such as top aide Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken supporter of the latest plan, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, alongside the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“All objection of the peace framework the White House is developing either misinterprets the proposal or misrepresents some critical reality on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Initial Efforts and European Reactions

Vance's initial efforts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to restore ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he charged them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and right-leaning views close to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the new peace deal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful spokespeople 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 demands.

In posts this past weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to establish a truce that honored Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to both sides, and prevent the conflict from restarting.

“Peace won’t be made by unsuccessful negotiators or politicians residing in a fantasy land,” he continued. “It might be made by smart people living in the real world.”

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

Rubio's Response and Private Concerns

That was a distinctly more enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the government who has transitioned from a shaky stature inside the administration to more firm standing.

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

But, his initial reaction to the agreement was lukewarm:

“Stopping a complicated and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough exchange of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “And, achieving a durable peace will require each party to agree to difficult but essential concessions. This is the reason we are and will continue to develop a list of possible ideas for resolving this war based on input from both sides of this conflict.”

In private, he was reportedly much more doubtful of the plan. The Republican senator Mike Rounds said last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted lawmakers to explain that the agreement was merely a initial offer from the Russians and not an plan advocated by the White House.

“Rubio did make a phone call to us this afternoon and I think he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was delivered to one of our officials,” stated Rounds. “It 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 offered as a solid framework for ongoing negotiations. The proposal is based on feedback from the Russian side. However, it is additionally based on previous and current input from Ukraine.”