🔗 Share this article

The US Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration newest proposal to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His strong connection with Vice President Vance has placed a key ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the center of President Trump's recent push to conclude the war.

Prior to his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or statesman, and his initial attempts to promote the deal to European policymakers were described as turbulent.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, who he studied and maintains a close friendship, indicate the rising influence of the non-interventionist VP in negotiations to end the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Involvement in Peace Efforts

It was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous first trip to the White House in March and demanded he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is once again resisting pressure from the US to accept a quick settlement that Ukrainian leaders have described as a capitulation.

Following a tumultuous initial year in power, international actions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a handful of Trump's top advisers, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a vocal advocate of the latest proposal, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, alongside the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“All objection of the peace framework the administration is working on either misinterprets the framework 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 also seeking to restore ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were irritated by his early remarks, in which he charged them of running from their voters, who Vance said held anti-immigration and conservative views similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

However, the new ceasefire proposal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive spokespeople for the deal in the government, even as the US has been under fire for endorsing a ceasefire plan that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In posts this weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to produce a truce that respected Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to both sides, and stop the conflict from restarting.

“Peace will not be made by failed negotiators or officials residing in a fantasy land,” he added. “An agreement might be made by smart people operating in the real world.”

Additionally, it was Vance who continued on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly tasked his staff with securing a agreement on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Internal Doubts

Vance's stance was a notably more enthusiastic support of the proposal than that expressed by the secretary of state and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hardliner in the government who has transitioned from a uncertain stature inside the administration to more firm footing.

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

However, his initial response to the agreement was tepid:

“Ending a complex and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough exchange of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “Furthermore, achieving a durable peace will necessitate both sides to agree to difficult but necessary compromises. This is the reason we are and will continue to develop a set of possible ideas for resolving this war drawing from feedback from each party of this conflict.”

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

“Rubio did make a call to us this afternoon and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a proposal that was delivered to one of our representatives,” said Rounds. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to fall in line. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he subsequently stated. “The framework is offered as a solid framework for ongoing negotiations. The proposal is based on input from the Moscow. However, it is additionally informed by earlier and ongoing input from Ukraine.”