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America's Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an unlikely diplomat for the Trump administration latest initiative to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His strong connection with Vice President Vance has positioned a key ally of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the forefront of Donald Trump recent effort to conclude the conflict.

Before his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or diplomat, and his early efforts to sell the deal to officials in Europe were described as chaotic.

Driscoll's strong relationship with Vance, who he attended Yale and maintains a close friendship, signal the resurgence of the non-interventionist vice-president in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine war.

The VP's Involvement in Ceasefire Efforts

This was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's disastrous initial visit to the White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is again pushing back against pressure from the US to accept a quick deal that Ukrainian leaders have described as a capitulation.

Following a tumultuous initial year in power, foreign policy decisions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a handful of Trump's top aides, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

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

“All criticism of the ceasefire plan the administration is working on either misunderstands the proposal or misrepresents some critical situation on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Attempts and EU Reactions

Vance's early attempts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also seeking to renew relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were angered by his initial remarks, in which he charged them of running from their constituents, who Vance said held anti-immigration and right-leaning views similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the recently published peace deal mirrored his stances, 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 mostly resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In posts this past weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to each party, and stop the conflict from restarting.

“Peace will not be made by failed negotiators or politicians residing in a dream world,” he added. “It might be made by intelligent people operating in the actual situation.”

Additionally, it was Vance who continued on the introduction of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his staff with securing a agreement on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Private Doubts

That was a notably more enthusiastic endorsement of the plan than that given by the secretary of state and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the administration who has gone from a uncertain position inside the administration to more stable footing.

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

But, his initial response to the agreement was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough discussion of substantive and realistic ideas,” Rubio wrote recently. “Furthermore, securing a durable peace will require each party to consent to difficult but necessary concessions. That is why we are and will persist to create a set of potential ideas for resolving this conflict drawing from feedback from each party of this war.”

In private, he was reportedly much more skeptical of the proposal. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds said recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called legislators to clarify that the deal was merely a initial proposal from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the White House.

“Rubio did make a phone call to us this afternoon and I think he made it very clear to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was presented to one of our representatives,” stated Rounds. “It 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 stated. “The framework is presented as a strong structure for ongoing discussions. It is derived from input from the Russian side. But, it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”