🔗 Share this article

The US Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, was an surprising diplomat for the White House's latest initiative to resolve the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His close connection with JD Vance has placed a close associate of the Euroskeptic VP at the forefront of Donald Trump recent push to conclude the war.

Before his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or diplomat, and his early efforts to sell the agreement to European policymakers were labeled turbulent.

Driscoll's strong relationship with Vance, who he studied and shares a personal bond, signal the resurgence of the non-interventionist vice-president in talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Involvement in Peace Efforts

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous initial trip to the Trump White House in March and demanded he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is once again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a swift settlement that Ukrainian leaders have described as a capitulation.

Following a chaotic first year in office, foreign policy actions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a handful of Trump's key aides, such as top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, State Department head Marco Rubio, and of course Vance.

Vance has been a outspoken supporter of the recent plan, which was crafted by Witkoff and Trump's relative Jared Kushner, alongside the Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.

“All criticism of the ceasefire plan the administration is working on either misunderstands the framework or misrepresents some key situation on the ground,” Vance wrote.

Early Attempts and EU Responses

Vance's initial attempts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while simultaneously attempting to restore ties with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. European officials, in turn, were irritated by his early remarks, in which he charged them of running from their voters, who Vance said held restrictionist and conservative views similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

However, the recently published ceasefire proposal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful spokespeople for the deal in the government, even as the US has been criticized for endorsing a peace framework that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist terms.

In posts this past weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to produce a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian sovereignty, be acceptable to each party, and prevent the conflict from restarting.

“A ceasefire won’t be made by failed negotiators or politicians living in a dream world,” he continued. “An agreement could 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 tasked his staff with obtaining a signature on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Private Concerns

Vance's stance was a notably more enthusiastic support of the proposal than that given by the secretary of state and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the government who has gone from a shaky stature inside the White House to more firm footing.

Rubio was a member of a US delegation that traveled to Geneva this weekend to confer with Ukrainian officials to help moderate the original 28-point peace plan in order to make it more palatable to leaders in Kyiv.

But, his first response to the agreement was tepid:

“Ending a complicated and violent war such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough discussion of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio wrote recently. “And, achieving a durable ceasefire will necessitate each party to agree to difficult but essential concessions. That is why we are and will continue to develop a list of possible ideas for ending this conflict drawing from input from each party of this conflict.”

Behind closed doors, he was reportedly much more doubtful 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 preliminary offer from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the White House.

“The Secretary did make a call to us this afternoon and I believe he made it very clear to us that we are the receivers of a proposal that was delivered to one of our representatives,” stated Rounds. “The document is not our suggestion, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he later stated. “The framework is offered as a solid structure for continuing negotiations. It is based on input from the Moscow. However, it is additionally based on earlier and current contributions from Ukraine.”