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America's Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an surprising envoy for the Trump administration newest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His strong relationship with Vice President Vance has placed a key ally of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the forefront of Donald Trump latest push to settle the war.

Before his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or statesman, and his initial attempts to sell the agreement to officials in Europe were labeled chaotic.

Driscoll's strong relationship with Vance, who he attended Yale and maintains a personal bond, indicate the rising influence of the isolationist VP in talks to end the Ukraine war.

Vance's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

This was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous first trip to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is once again resisting demands from the US to accept a swift deal that local officials have called a capitulation.

After a chaotic first year in office, foreign policy decisions in the White House are said to be 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 vocal advocate of the recent proposal, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, alongside the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every objection of the ceasefire plan the White House is developing either misunderstands the proposal or misstates some key situation on the ground,” Vance stated.

Early Efforts and EU Responses

Vance's early efforts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to restore ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he accused them of running from their voters, who Vance said held anti-immigration and right-leaning views similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

However, the new peace deal mirrored his stances, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the agreement in the government, even as the US has been criticized for endorsing a peace framework that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to each party, and prevent the conflict from restarting.

“Peace will not be made by failed diplomats or officials residing in a dream world,” he continued. “An agreement could be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

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 securing a agreement on the peace deal before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Private Concerns

Vance's stance was a notably more full-throated endorsement of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the administration who has transitioned from a uncertain position inside the White House to more stable footing.

Rubio was part of a US team that went 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.

But, his first reaction to the deal was lukewarm:

“Stopping a complex and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough exchange of substantive and realistic ideas,” Rubio wrote recently. “Furthermore, securing a lasting ceasefire will require each party to agree to difficult but essential concessions. This is the reason we are and will continue to develop a set of possible solutions for resolving this conflict based on input from each party of this conflict.”

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

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

Rubio moved quickly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he later wrote. “The framework is presented as a solid framework for ongoing discussions. It is derived from input from the Russian side. But, it is additionally based on earlier and ongoing input from Ukraine.”