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America's Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an unlikely envoy for the Trump administration latest initiative to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's close connection with Vice President Vance has placed a key ally of the Eurosceptic VP at the forefront of President Trump's latest push to conclude the conflict.

Prior to his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or statesman, and his early attempts to sell the agreement to officials in Europe were described as chaotic.

Driscoll's close ties with Vance, with whom he studied and maintains a personal bond, signal the resurgence of the non-interventionist vice-president in talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Role in Ceasefire Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's disastrous initial visit to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is once again pushing back against pressure from the US to agree to a swift settlement that local officials have called a capitulation.

After a chaotic initial year in office, international actions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a handful of Trump's key aides, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken advocate of the recent plan, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, together with the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“All objection of the ceasefire plan the White House is developing either misinterprets the proposal or misrepresents some critical situation on the ground,” the VP stated.

Initial Efforts and European Responses

Vance's initial attempts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to restore relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. European officials, in turn, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he accused them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and conservative positions similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the recently published ceasefire proposal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the deal in the government, even as the US has been under fire for accepting a ceasefire plan that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In posts this weekend, Vance asserted that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to each party, and prevent the war from restarting.

“Peace will not be made by failed negotiators or officials residing in a fantasy land,” he continued. “It could be made by intelligent people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who continued on the presentation of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly tasked his team with securing a agreement on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Private Doubts

Vance's stance was a distinctly more full-throated endorsement of the proposal than that given by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the government who has gone from a uncertain stature inside the White House to more stable footing.

Rubio was a member of a US team that traveled to Geneva this past weekend to meet with Ukrainian officials to help moderate the initial 28-point peace plan in order to make it more acceptable to authorities in Kyiv.

But, his initial response to the deal was tepid:

“Stopping a complicated and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive discussion of substantive and realistic ideas,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “And, securing a lasting ceasefire will require each party to consent to challenging but essential compromises. That is why we are and will persist to create a list of possible solutions for ending this conflict drawing from input from each party of this conflict.”

In private, he was said to be much more doubtful of the plan. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted legislators to explain that the deal was just a initial offer from the Russians and not an initiative advocated by the White House.

“Rubio did make a phone call to us this day and I think he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was presented to one of our officials,” stated 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 later stated. “The framework is offered as a solid framework for continuing discussions. The proposal is derived from input from the Moscow. But, it is additionally based on earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”