🔗 Share this article

The US Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an surprising envoy for the Trump administration newest initiative to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close relationship with JD Vance has placed a close associate of the Euroskeptic vice-president at the forefront of President Trump's latest effort to settle the war.

Prior to his recent trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or statesman, and his early attempts to promote the deal to officials in Europe were labeled chaotic.

His close ties with Vance, who he studied and maintains a close friendship, indicate the resurgence of the isolationist vice-president in talks to end the Ukraine crisis.

The VP's Role in Peace Negotiations

It was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous first visit to the White House in March and demanded he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is once again pushing back against demands from the US to accept a swift settlement that Ukrainian leaders have called a surrender.

After a chaotic first year in office, international decisions in the White House are said to be influenced by a handful of Trump's key aides, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken advocate of the latest proposal, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, together with the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“All criticism of the peace framework the administration is developing either misunderstands the proposal or misstates some key situation on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Early Efforts and European Reactions

Vance's initial efforts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to restore relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian interlocutors. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he charged them of ignoring their constituents, who Vance said held restrictionist and conservative positions close to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the recently published ceasefire proposal closely resembled his stances, and he has been one of the most assertive spokespeople for the agreement in the government, even as the US has been under fire for endorsing a ceasefire plan that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

In social media updates this past weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to both sides, and stop the war from restarting.

“Peace will not be made by failed diplomats or politicians residing in a dream world,” he added. “An agreement could be made by smart people operating in the real world.”

It was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the peace plan in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his team with securing a signature on the peace deal prior to Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Internal Concerns

That was a notably more full-throated endorsement of the proposal than that given by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a uncertain stature inside the White House to more stable footing.

Rubio was part of a US team that went to Geneva this past 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.

However, his initial response to the deal was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and violent war such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough exchange of serious and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio wrote recently. “Furthermore, securing a durable ceasefire will require each party to consent to challenging but essential concessions. That is why we are and will continue to create a set of possible 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 plan. 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 agreement was just a initial proposal from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the White House.

“The Secretary made a phone call to us this day and I believe he made it very clear to us that we are the receivers of a offer 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 fall in line. “This ceasefire plan was authored by the US,” he later wrote. “It is presented as a strong structure for ongoing negotiations. It is derived from input from the Moscow. However, it is also informed by earlier and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”