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The US Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an unlikely envoy for the Trump administration newest initiative to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close connection with Vice President Vance has placed a close associate of the Eurosceptic VP at the forefront of Donald Trump recent push to conclude the conflict.

Before his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or statesman, and his initial attempts to promote the agreement to officials in Europe were described as turbulent.

Driscoll's close ties with Vance, with whom he studied and maintains a personal bond, indicate the rising influence of the isolationist VP in talks to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

This was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky first trip to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is again resisting demands from the US to agree to a quick deal that local officials have described as a surrender.

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

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

“Every criticism of the peace framework the White House is working on either misunderstands the proposal or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Initial Efforts and European Reactions

Vance's initial attempts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while also attempting to restore ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. 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 conservative views similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the recently published peace deal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the agreement in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a ceasefire plan that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist terms.

In posts this weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to establish a truce that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to each party, and prevent the war from resuming.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by failed diplomats or politicians residing in a fantasy land,” he continued. “An agreement might be made by smart people operating 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 obtaining a agreement on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Private Concerns

Vance's stance was a notably more full-throated endorsement of the plan than that given by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the administration who has gone from a uncertain stature inside the White House to more firm footing.

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

But, his initial reaction to the agreement was lukewarm:

“Ending a complicated and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough exchange of substantive and realistic proposals,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “Furthermore, securing a durable ceasefire will necessitate both sides to consent to difficult but necessary concessions. That is why we are and will continue to develop a list of possible ideas for ending this war drawing from feedback from both sides of this conflict.”

In private, he was said to be much more skeptical of the proposal. The Republican senator Mike Rounds said recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted legislators to explain that the deal was merely a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the White House.

“Rubio did make a 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 delivered to one of our officials,” said Rounds. “The document is not our suggestion, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “The framework is offered as a solid structure for continuing discussions. The proposal is based on input from the Moscow. However, it is also based on earlier and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”