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America's Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an unlikely diplomat for the Trump administration latest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's strong relationship with Vice President Vance has placed a key ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the center of President Trump's latest push to settle the war.

Prior to his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or diplomat, and his early efforts to sell the deal to officials in Europe were described as chaotic.

His strong relationship with Vance, with whom he attended Yale and shares a close friendship, indicate the resurgence of the isolationist VP in talks to end the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Involvement in Ceasefire Negotiations

This was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky first trip to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is once again resisting pressure from the US to agree to a swift settlement that Ukrainian leaders have described as a capitulation.

Following a tumultuous initial year in power, international decisions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a small group of Trump's top aides, such as top aide Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken supporter of the recent proposal, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, alongside the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“All objection of the peace framework the administration is developing either misinterprets the proposal or misrepresents some key reality on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Initial Efforts and European Responses

Vance's initial attempts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were angered by his initial remarks, in which he charged them of ignoring their constituents, who Vance said held anti-immigration and right-leaning positions similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the recently published peace deal closely resembled his stances, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the agreement in the government, even as the US has been criticized for endorsing a peace framework that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance asserted that a ceasefire agreement would have to establish a truce that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to each party, and prevent the conflict from resuming.

“Peace will not be made by failed negotiators or politicians living in a dream world,” he continued. “An agreement might be made by smart people operating in the actual situation.”

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the introduction of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his staff with securing a signature on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Reaction and Internal Doubts

That was a notably more enthusiastic endorsement of the plan than that expressed by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hardliner in the administration who has transitioned from a shaky position inside the White House to more stable standing.

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

However, his first reaction to the agreement was lukewarm:

“Ending a complex and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an extensive discussion of substantive and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio wrote recently. “Furthermore, securing a lasting ceasefire will require both sides to consent to difficult but essential compromises. That is why we are and will continue to create a list of potential solutions for resolving this war drawing from input from both sides of this war.”

Behind closed doors, he was reportedly much more skeptical of the proposal. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted legislators to explain that the agreement was merely a preliminary offer from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the administration.

“The Secretary made a call to us this day and I think he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a proposal that was presented to one of our representatives,” said Rounds. “The document is not our suggestion, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “The peace proposal was authored by the US,” he later wrote. “It is presented as a solid framework for continuing negotiations. It is derived from feedback from the Russian side. However, it is additionally based on earlier and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”