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America's Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an unlikely diplomat for the White House's latest proposal to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. His strong connection with Vice President Vance has positioned a close associate of the Eurosceptic VP at the center of Donald Trump latest push to settle the conflict.

Before his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or statesman, and his initial attempts to promote the agreement to European policymakers were labeled chaotic.

His close relationship with Vance, with whom he attended Yale and shares a close friendship, indicate the rising influence of the non-interventionist vice-president in talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Involvement in Ceasefire Efforts

It was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous first visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is again resisting pressure from the US to accept a swift settlement that Ukrainian leaders have described as a capitulation.

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

Vance has been a vocal supporter of the recent proposal, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, together with the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every criticism of the ceasefire plan the administration is developing either misinterprets the proposal or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” Vance stated.

Initial Efforts and European Responses

Vance's early attempts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also seeking to renew ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, in turn, were angered by his early remarks, in which he charged them of running from their constituents, who Vance said held anti-immigration and conservative positions close to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the recently published ceasefire proposal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the agreement in the administration, even as the US has been under fire for endorsing a peace framework that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance asserted that a ceasefire agreement would have to establish a truce that respected Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to both sides, and prevent the conflict from resuming.

“Peace won’t be made by failed diplomats or officials residing in a dream world,” he continued. “An agreement could be made by intelligent people operating in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly instructed his staff with obtaining a signature on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Internal Concerns

Vance's stance was a notably more enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the government who has gone from a shaky stature inside the White House to more firm footing.

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

But, his first reaction to the agreement was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio wrote recently. “And, achieving a durable peace will necessitate both sides to consent to challenging but essential concessions. This is the reason we are and will persist to develop a list of potential solutions for resolving this conflict drawing from feedback from both sides of this war.”

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 contacted legislators to clarify that the agreement was just a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an plan advocated by the administration.

“The Secretary made a call to us this day and I think he made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was delivered to one of our officials,” said Rounds. “It is not our suggestion, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he later wrote. “The framework is presented as a strong framework for continuing discussions. It is based on input from the Russian side. However, it is also informed by previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”