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America's Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration latest proposal to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His strong relationship with JD Vance has positioned a key ally of the Eurosceptic VP at the forefront of Donald Trump recent push to conclude the conflict.

Prior to his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or statesman, and his initial efforts to sell the deal to officials in Europe were labeled turbulent.

His strong ties with Vance, who he attended Yale and maintains a personal bond, indicate the resurgence of the non-interventionist vice-president in talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Involvement in Peace Negotiations

This was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's rocky first trip to the White House in March and demanded he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is once again pushing back against demands from the US to accept a quick settlement that Ukrainian leaders have called a capitulation.

Following a chaotic initial year in office, international decisions in the White House are said to be influenced by a handful of Trump's key aides, such as top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken supporter of the latest plan, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, together with the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every objection of the ceasefire plan the administration is working on either misinterprets the proposal or misrepresents some critical situation on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Initial Efforts and European Reactions

Vance's early efforts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously seeking to restore relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, in turn, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he accused them of ignoring their voters, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and conservative views close to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the recently published peace deal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the agreement in the administration, even as the US has been under fire for accepting a peace framework that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to both sides, and prevent the war from restarting.

“Peace will not be made by failed diplomats or officials residing in a fantasy land,” he added. “It might be made by intelligent people operating in the actual situation.”

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call 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.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Private Doubts

That was a distinctly more full-throated endorsement of the proposal than that given by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the government who has transitioned from a uncertain position inside the administration to more firm footing.

Rubio was part of a US team that traveled to Geneva this past weekend to confer with Ukrainian leaders to help refine the original 28-point peace plan in order to make it more acceptable to authorities in Kyiv.

However, his initial response to the deal was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive discussion of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio wrote recently. “And, securing a durable peace will necessitate both sides to consent to challenging but essential concessions. That is why we are and will continue to create a set of possible ideas for ending this conflict based on feedback from each party of this war.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be much more skeptical of the plan. The Republican senator Mike Rounds stated last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted lawmakers to explain that the deal was merely a initial offer from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the administration.

“Rubio did make a phone call to us this afternoon and I think he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a offer 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 subsequently wrote. “The framework is offered as a solid framework for continuing negotiations. It is derived from input from the Russian side. However, it is also informed by earlier and ongoing input from Ukraine.”