🔗 Share this article

The US Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an surprising diplomat for the Trump administration latest initiative to end the conflict in Ukraine. Driscoll's strong connection with JD Vance has positioned a close associate of the Eurosceptic VP at the forefront of President Trump's recent push to conclude the war.

Before his last week's trip to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or diplomat, and his initial efforts to sell the agreement to European policymakers were described as chaotic.

Driscoll's close ties with Vance, who he attended Yale and shares a close friendship, signal the resurgence of the non-interventionist vice-president in talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

Vance's Involvement in Ceasefire Negotiations

This was Vance who intervened during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky initial trip to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Now, Ukraine is once again resisting pressure from the US to accept a swift deal that local officials have described as a surrender.

Following a chaotic first year in office, foreign policy actions in the White House are reportedly influenced by a small group of Trump's top advisers, including top aide Susie Wiles, rightwing advisor Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and finally Vance.

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

“All criticism of the peace framework the White House is working on either misinterprets the proposal or misrepresents some critical reality on the ground,” the VP stated.

Early Efforts and European Responses

Vance's initial efforts at negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Russia, while also attempting to restore relations with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, in turn, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he charged them of ignoring their voters, who Vance said held anti-immigration and right-leaning positions similar to those of Trump's own constituency.

But, the new peace deal closely resembled his positions, and he has been one of the most assertive advocates for the deal in the government, even as the US has been under fire for endorsing a peace framework that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In posts this past weekend, Vance argued that a ceasefire agreement would have to produce a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be acceptable to each party, and prevent the conflict from restarting.

“Peace won’t be made by failed negotiators or officials living in a dream world,” he continued. “It could be made by smart people living in the actual situation.”

It was Vance who continued on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily tasked his staff with obtaining a signature on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.

The Secretary of State's Response and Internal Doubts

That was a notably more full-throated support of the proposal than that given by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more traditional hawk in the administration who has gone from a shaky stature inside the administration to more firm footing.

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

But, his initial reaction to the agreement was tepid:

“Stopping a complex and violent conflict such as the one in Ukraine demands an thorough exchange of serious and pragmatic proposals,” Rubio wrote recently. “And, securing a durable peace will require both sides to consent to difficult but necessary compromises. That is why we are and will persist to develop a set of potential solutions for ending this war drawing from feedback from both sides of this war.”

Behind closed doors, he was said to be 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 lawmakers to explain that the deal was just a preliminary proposal from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the administration.

“The Secretary made a phone call to us this afternoon and I think he emphasized to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was presented to one of our representatives,” stated Rounds. “The document is not our recommendation, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio acted swiftly to align himself. “The peace proposal was written by the US,” he subsequently wrote. “It is presented as a strong structure for ongoing discussions. It is derived from feedback from the Russian side. But, it is also informed by previous and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”