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The US Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, was an surprising envoy for the White House's latest initiative to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. His close relationship with JD Vance has placed a close associate of the Eurosceptic VP at the forefront of President Trump's latest push to conclude the war.

Before his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or diplomat, and his early efforts to sell the agreement to European policymakers were described as turbulent.

Driscoll's close ties with Vance, with whom he attended Yale and maintains a close friendship, indicate the resurgence of the isolationist VP in talks to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Involvement in Peace Efforts

This was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's disastrous initial visit to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is again resisting demands from the US to accept a swift settlement that local officials have called a capitulation.

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

Vance has been a outspoken advocate of the latest plan, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, alongside the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every objection of the peace framework the White House is working on either misinterprets the proposal or misstates some key reality on the ground,” Vance wrote.

Early Efforts and EU Responses

Vance's initial efforts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were irritated by his initial remarks, in which he accused them of ignoring their constituents, who Vance said held anti-immigration and right-leaning views similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the recently published peace deal mirrored his stances, and he has been one of the most assertive spokespeople for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been under fire for accepting a peace framework that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to produce a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to both sides, and prevent the conflict from restarting.

“Peace will not be made by failed diplomats or politicians residing in a fantasy land,” he continued. “An agreement could be made by intelligent people operating in the real world.”

It was Vance who continued on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his team with securing a agreement on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Internal Concerns

Vance's stance was a notably more full-throated endorsement of the plan than that expressed by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the administration who has gone from a shaky stature inside the administration to more firm standing.

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

However, his initial reaction to the agreement was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive exchange of serious and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “Furthermore, securing a durable ceasefire will require each party to consent to difficult but essential concessions. This is the reason we are and will continue to create a set of possible solutions for resolving this war based on feedback from both sides of this conflict.”

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

“The Secretary made a phone call to us this afternoon and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a offer that was presented to one of our officials,” stated Rounds. “The document is not our suggestion, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he later wrote. “It is offered as a solid structure for ongoing negotiations. It is based on feedback from the Moscow. But, it is additionally informed by previous and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”