🔗 Share this article

The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, was an unlikely envoy for the Trump administration latest initiative to end the conflict in Ukraine. His close relationship with JD Vance has positioned a key ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the center of Donald Trump latest effort to conclude the war.

Prior to his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or statesman, and his initial attempts to promote the deal to European policymakers were described as turbulent.

Driscoll's strong relationship with Vance, with whom he studied and shares a personal bond, indicate the resurgence of the isolationist VP in negotiations to end the Ukraine war.

Vance's Role in Peace Negotiations

It was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky initial visit to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a quick deal that Ukrainian leaders have called a capitulation.

After a chaotic first year in office, international actions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a handful of Trump's key advisers, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“All objection of the ceasefire plan the White House is working on either misunderstands the proposal or misstates some key reality on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Early Efforts and European Reactions

Vance's early attempts at hammering out a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously seeking to renew relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. European officials, meanwhile, were irritated by his early speeches, in which he charged them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and conservative views similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

However, the recently published peace deal 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 endorsing a ceasefire plan that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In social media updates this weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to establish a truce that respected Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to each party, and stop the conflict from resuming.

“Peace won’t be made by failed negotiators or officials residing in a dream world,” he continued. “It might be made by smart people operating in the real world.”

It was Vance who continued on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly instructed his team with obtaining a agreement on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Private Doubts

That was a distinctly more enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal than that expressed by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the government who has gone from a uncertain position inside the administration to more stable footing.

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

But, his initial reaction to the deal was lukewarm:

“Ending a complex and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of substantive and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio stated recently. “Furthermore, securing a lasting peace will necessitate both sides to consent to challenging but necessary concessions. This is the reason we are and will continue to create a set of potential ideas for ending this conflict drawing from feedback from both sides of this war.”

In private, he was said to be much more skeptical of the plan. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted lawmakers to explain that the deal was merely a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the White House.

“The Secretary made a call to us this day 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,” said Rounds. “The document is not our suggestion, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio acted swiftly to fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “It is presented as a solid framework for ongoing discussions. It is derived from feedback from the Russian side. However, it is additionally informed by earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”