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The US Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an unlikely envoy for the Trump administration latest proposal to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's close relationship with JD Vance has positioned a key ally of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the center of President Trump's latest push to settle the war.

Prior to his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or statesman, and his early attempts to promote the deal to officials in Europe were labeled chaotic.

His close relationship with Vance, who he studied and maintains a personal bond, signal the rising influence of the non-interventionist vice-president in talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Role in Ceasefire Negotiations

This was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's rocky initial trip to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is again resisting pressure from the US to agree to a swift settlement that local officials have called a capitulation.

Following a chaotic initial year in power, international actions in the White House are said to be influenced by a handful of Trump's top aides, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

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

“All objection of the peace framework the White House is developing either misinterprets the proposal or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” Vance stated.

Early Attempts and EU Reactions

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 camp feeling frustrated 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 claimed held anti-immigration and right-leaning views close to those of Trump's own constituency.

However, the recently published peace deal mirrored his stances, and he has been one of the most forceful 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 asserted that a peace deal would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to each party, and stop the conflict from resuming.

“A ceasefire will not be made by unsuccessful diplomats or officials residing in a fantasy land,” he added. “An agreement might be made by intelligent people living in the real world.”

Additionally, it was Vance who continued on the introduction of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his team with securing a agreement on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Internal Doubts

Vance's stance was a distinctly more full-throated support of the plan than that given by the secretary of state and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the administration who has gone from a shaky position inside the administration to more firm standing.

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

However, his initial reaction to the deal was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough exchange of substantive and realistic ideas,” Rubio stated recently. “And, securing a durable ceasefire will require each party to consent to difficult but essential compromises. That is why we are and will continue to develop a list of potential ideas for ending this war based on input from both sides of this war.”

In private, he was reportedly much more doubtful of the proposal. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to clarify that the deal was just a preliminary offer from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the White House.

“The Secretary did make a call to us this day and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was delivered to one of our officials,” stated Rounds. “The document 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 subsequently stated. “The framework is offered as a strong structure for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Moscow. But, it is additionally informed by earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”