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The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an unlikely envoy for the Trump administration latest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's strong connection with Vice President Vance has placed a key ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the forefront of President Trump's latest push to settle the war.

Before his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or statesman, and his initial attempts to promote the agreement to officials in Europe were described as chaotic.

His close relationship with Vance, with whom he studied and maintains a close friendship, indicate the rising influence of the isolationist VP in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Involvement in Ceasefire Efforts

This was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's rocky first visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is once again pushing back against pressure from the US to accept a quick deal that local officials have called a surrender.

Following a chaotic first year in power, foreign policy decisions in the White House are said to be shaped by a handful of Trump's top aides, such as top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

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

“All objection of the ceasefire plan the administration is developing either misunderstands the framework or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Attempts and EU Reactions

Vance's early efforts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, in turn, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he charged them of ignoring their constituents, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and right-leaning positions similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the new ceasefire proposal closely resembled 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 endorsing a peace framework that mostly resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In posts this past weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a ceasefire that respected Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to both sides, and prevent the war from restarting.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by unsuccessful diplomats or politicians living in a dream world,” he continued. “An agreement could be made by intelligent people living in the real world.”

It was Vance who continued on the presentation of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly instructed his staff with obtaining a signature on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Private Doubts

Vance's stance was a distinctly more full-throated endorsement of the plan than that given by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the government who has transitioned from a shaky position inside the administration to more stable standing.

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

But, his first reaction to the deal was tepid:

“Ending a complex and violent war such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough exchange of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “And, achieving a lasting peace will require each party to consent to challenging but necessary concessions. This is the reason we are and will continue to create a set of possible solutions for resolving this war drawing from input 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 preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an plan advocated by the administration.

“The Secretary did make a phone call to us this afternoon and I think he made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was presented to one of our representatives,” said Rounds. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio moved quickly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he subsequently stated. “It is presented as a strong structure for continuing discussions. It is based on input from the Russian side. However, it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”