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America's Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, was an surprising envoy for the Trump administration newest initiative to end the conflict in Ukraine. Driscoll's strong connection with Vice President Vance has placed a key ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the center of President Trump's recent effort to conclude the conflict.

Before his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a negotiator or diplomat, and his initial efforts to sell the deal to officials in Europe were labeled turbulent.

His strong ties with Vance, with whom he attended Yale and maintains a personal bond, indicate the rising influence of the non-interventionist vice-president in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine war.

Vance's Involvement in Ceasefire Negotiations

This was Vance who stepped in during Ukraine's president's rocky first trip to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is again resisting demands from the US to agree to a quick settlement that local officials have described as a capitulation.

Following a tumultuous initial year in power, foreign policy actions in the White House are said to be influenced by a small group of Trump's top aides, such as top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a vocal supporter of the recent proposal, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, together with the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every criticism of the ceasefire plan the administration is developing either misinterprets the framework or misrepresents some critical situation on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Initial Efforts and EU Responses

Vance's initial attempts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to renew relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were angered by his initial remarks, in which he charged them of running from their voters, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and right-leaning positions close to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the new ceasefire proposal mirrored his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful spokespeople for the agreement in the government, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a peace framework that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to produce a truce that honored Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to each party, and stop the war from restarting.

“A ceasefire will not be made by failed diplomats or officials residing in a fantasy land,” he continued. “It could be made by intelligent people operating in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who continued on the introduction of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his team with securing a signature on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Internal Concerns

Vance's stance was a notably more full-throated support of the proposal than that given by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hardliner in the administration who has transitioned from a uncertain position inside the White House to more firm footing.

Rubio was a member of a US delegation that went to Geneva this weekend to meet with Ukrainian officials to help moderate the initial 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more acceptable to authorities in Kyiv.

However, his initial reaction to the deal was tepid:

“Stopping a complicated and deadly war such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough discussion of serious and realistic ideas,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, securing a lasting peace will necessitate both sides to consent to challenging but necessary compromises. This is the reason we are and will continue to create a list of possible solutions for ending this war drawing from feedback from each party of this conflict.”

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

“Rubio made a call to us this day and I think he made it very clear to us that we are the receivers of a proposal that was presented to one of our officials,” stated Rounds. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he later wrote. “It is presented as a solid structure for continuing discussions. The proposal is derived from input from the Russian side. But, it is additionally informed by previous and current contributions from Ukraine.”