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The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an unlikely diplomat for the White House's newest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His strong connection with JD Vance has positioned a key ally of the Euroskeptic VP at the forefront of Donald Trump latest effort to conclude the war.

Before his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or diplomat, and his initial efforts to sell the deal to European policymakers were labeled turbulent.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, who he studied and maintains a close friendship, signal the resurgence of the isolationist VP in talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Role in Ceasefire Negotiations

It was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's disastrous initial visit to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is once again resisting demands from the US to accept a swift deal that local officials have called a surrender.

Following a chaotic initial year in office, foreign policy decisions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a small group of Trump's key advisers, including top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“All criticism of the ceasefire plan the White House is working on either misinterprets the proposal or misstates some critical reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Initial Efforts and EU Reactions

Vance's initial attempts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to restore relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, meanwhile, were irritated by his early speeches, in which he charged them of ignoring their constituents, who Vance said held restrictionist and right-leaning positions close to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the new 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 accepting a peace framework that mostly resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to each party, and stop the war from restarting.

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

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up 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 Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Internal Concerns

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

Rubio was part of a US team that went to Geneva this past weekend to confer with Ukrainian leaders to help refine the initial 28-point peace plan in order to make it more acceptable to leaders in Kyiv.

But, his first response to the deal was tepid:

“Stopping a complex and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough exchange of serious and realistic proposals,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, achieving a lasting peace will require both sides to agree to challenging but necessary compromises. That is why we are and will continue to create a set of possible solutions for ending this conflict drawing from feedback from each party of this war.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be much more doubtful of the proposal. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds said last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called legislators to clarify that the agreement was just a initial proposal from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the administration.

“The Secretary made a call to us this day and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was presented to one of our representatives,” stated Rounds. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he later wrote. “It is offered as a solid structure for continuing discussions. It is based on input from the Moscow. But, it is additionally based on previous and current input from Ukraine.”