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The US Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an unlikely envoy for the Trump administration newest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. His strong connection with JD Vance has positioned a close associate of the Eurosceptic VP at the center of Donald Trump latest effort to conclude the conflict.

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

His strong relationship with Vance, with whom he studied and shares a close friendship, signal the resurgence of the non-interventionist VP in talks to end the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Role in Peace Negotiations

It was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy disastrous first visit to the White House in March and demanded he show Trump more respect. Currently, Ukraine is once again resisting pressure from the US to accept a quick settlement that Ukrainian leaders have described as a surrender.

After a tumultuous initial year in office, foreign policy decisions in the White House are said to be influenced by a small group of Trump's key aides, such as chief of staff Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, diplomat Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

Vance has been a vocal supporter of the recent plan, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, alongside the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

“All criticism of the ceasefire plan the administration is developing either misinterprets the proposal or misrepresents some key situation on the ground,” the VP wrote.

Early Efforts and European Reactions

Vance's initial attempts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also seeking to renew relations with Moscow, were unsuccessful and left his camp feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were irritated by his early remarks, in which he accused them of running from their voters, who Vance claimed held anti-immigration and conservative positions close to those of Trump's own constituency.

However, the new peace deal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the agreement in the administration, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a ceasefire plan that mostly echoes Vladimir Putin's extreme terms.

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

“A ceasefire won’t be made by failed diplomats or officials living in a fantasy land,” he added. “It might be made by intelligent people operating in the actual situation.”

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly instructed his team with securing a agreement on the ceasefire accord prior to Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Private Doubts

That was a notably more full-throated support of the plan than that given by the top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a uncertain position inside the White House to more stable footing.

Rubio was a member of a US delegation that traveled to Geneva this past weekend to meet 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 initial response to the agreement was lukewarm:

“Ending a complex and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough exchange of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “Furthermore, achieving a durable ceasefire will necessitate each party to agree to challenging but essential compromises. This is the reason we are and will continue to develop a set of possible ideas for resolving this war drawing from feedback from each party of this conflict.”

In private, he was reportedly much more doubtful of the proposal. The Republican senator Mike Rounds said recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted legislators to explain that the agreement was just a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the administration.

“The Secretary made a call to us this day and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was presented to one of our representatives,” stated Rounds. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our ceasefire proposal.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he subsequently stated. “The framework is presented as a solid structure for continuing discussions. It is derived from input from the Russian side. However, it is also informed by previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”