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The US Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an surprising envoy for the Trump administration newest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's close relationship with JD Vance has positioned a close associate of the Euroskeptic VP at the forefront of President Trump's latest effort to conclude the conflict.

Prior to his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or diplomat, and his early efforts to promote the agreement to European policymakers were labeled chaotic.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, who he studied and shares a personal bond, indicate the rising influence of the isolationist VP in negotiations to end the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

This was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous first trip to the White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is once again resisting demands from the US to agree to a quick deal that local officials have described as a surrender.

Following a chaotic first year in power, international decisions in the White House are said to be influenced by a handful of Trump's key advisers, including top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“Every objection of the ceasefire plan the White House is working on either misunderstands the proposal or misrepresents some critical reality on the ground,” Vance stated.

Initial Efforts and European Responses

Vance's early efforts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to restore ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were irritated by his initial remarks, in which he charged them of ignoring their voters, who Vance said held anti-immigration and right-leaning positions similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

However, the new peace deal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive spokespeople for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a ceasefire plan that mostly resembles Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to establish a truce that honored Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to both sides, and stop the conflict from restarting.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by unsuccessful diplomats or officials living in a fantasy land,” he added. “It might be made by intelligent people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his staff with securing a agreement on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Private Doubts

Vance's stance was a notably more enthusiastic support of the proposal than that expressed by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the government who has transitioned from a shaky position inside the White House to more firm standing.

Rubio was part of a US team that traveled to Geneva this past weekend to meet with Ukrainian officials to help moderate the initial 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more palatable to leaders in Kyiv.

However, his first reaction to the agreement was lukewarm:

“Stopping a complicated and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough discussion of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio wrote recently. “And, securing a durable peace will require each party to agree to challenging but essential concessions. This is the reason we are and will continue to develop a list of potential solutions for ending 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 recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted lawmakers to clarify that the agreement was just a initial proposal from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the administration.

“Rubio made a call to us this afternoon and I think he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was presented to one of our officials,” said 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 stated. “The framework is presented as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. It is derived from input from the Moscow. However, it is also informed by earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”