🔗 Share this article

The US Army Secretary, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an surprising envoy for the Trump administration newest initiative to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's strong connection with JD Vance has positioned a close associate of the Euroskeptic VP at the forefront of President Trump's latest push to settle the war.

Before his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was unrecognized as a mediator or statesman, and his early attempts to sell the deal to European policymakers were labeled chaotic.

Driscoll's strong relationship with Vance, who he studied and maintains a close friendship, signal the resurgence of the non-interventionist vice-president in talks to end the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Involvement in Ceasefire Negotiations

This was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's rocky first trip to the White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is again resisting demands from the US to agree to a swift deal that local officials have called a surrender.

Following a tumultuous initial year in office, international decisions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a small group of Trump's key aides, 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 crafted by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, alongside the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“Every objection of the peace framework the administration is working on either misinterprets the framework or misrepresents some critical reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Initial Efforts and EU Reactions

Vance's initial efforts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to restore ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp 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 constituents, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and right-leaning views similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

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 administration, even as the US has been under fire for accepting a peace framework that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist demands.

In posts this past weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to produce a truce that respected Ukrainian sovereignty, be agreeable to each party, and stop the conflict from resuming.

“Peace will not be made by failed diplomats or officials living in a fantasy land,” he added. “It might be made by intelligent people operating in the real world.”

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly instructed his staff with securing a agreement on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Response and Private Doubts

That was a distinctly more full-throated endorsement of the plan than that expressed by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the administration who has gone from a uncertain stature inside the administration to more firm footing.

Rubio was part of a US delegation that traveled to Geneva this weekend to meet with Ukrainian leaders to help refine the original 28-point peace plan in order to make it more palatable to authorities in Kyiv.

But, his initial reaction to the deal was tepid:

“Ending a complex and violent war such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough discussion of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio wrote over the weekend. “Furthermore, achieving a durable ceasefire will necessitate each party to consent to challenging but necessary concessions. That is why we are and will continue to develop a list of possible ideas for ending this war based on input from both sides of this war.”

Behind closed doors, he was reportedly much more skeptical of the plan. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds said last week at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted legislators to clarify that the deal was merely a initial proposal from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the administration.

“Rubio did make a phone call to us this afternoon and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was delivered to one of our representatives,” stated 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 stated. “The framework is offered as a solid framework for continuing discussions. It is derived from feedback from the Russian side. However, it is also informed by earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”