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America's Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an unlikely envoy for the Trump administration newest proposal to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close relationship with JD Vance has positioned a key ally of the Eurosceptic VP at the forefront of Donald Trump recent push to conclude the war.

Before his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or statesman, and his early efforts to sell the agreement to officials in Europe were described as turbulent.

His close ties with Vance, who he studied and shares a personal bond, signal the rising influence of the non-interventionist VP in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Involvement in Ceasefire Negotiations

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous first trip to the White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is once again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a quick deal that Ukrainian leaders have called a capitulation.

After a tumultuous initial year in power, foreign policy decisions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a handful of Trump's key aides, including top aide Susie Wiles, conservative advisor Stephen Miller, envoy 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 relative Jared Kushner, alongside the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every objection of the ceasefire plan the administration is working on either misinterprets the framework or misrepresents some key situation on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Efforts and EU Reactions

Vance's early attempts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also attempting to restore ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. European officials, meanwhile, were irritated by his early speeches, in which he charged them of running from their constituents, who Vance said held restrictionist and right-leaning 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 assertive advocates for the deal in the administration, even as the US has been under fire for accepting a ceasefire plan that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to produce a ceasefire that respected Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to each party, and stop the conflict from restarting.

“Peace will not be made by unsuccessful negotiators or officials living in a dream world,” he continued. “An agreement 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 conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his team with obtaining a signature on the peace deal before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Internal Concerns

That was a distinctly more enthusiastic support of the plan 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 stature inside the administration to more firm footing.

Rubio was a member 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 palatable to authorities in Kyiv.

But, his first reaction to the agreement was tepid:

“Stopping a complex and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough exchange of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio wrote recently. “Furthermore, securing a durable peace will require both sides to agree to challenging but essential compromises. This is the reason we are and will persist to create a set of potential ideas for ending this war drawing from feedback from both sides of this conflict.”

In private, he was reportedly much more skeptical of the proposal. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to explain that the agreement was just a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the administration.

“The Secretary did make a call to us this afternoon and I think 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 recommendation, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio acted swiftly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he subsequently stated. “The framework is presented as a strong structure for continuing discussions. The proposal is based on input from the Russian side. But, it is additionally informed by earlier and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”