🔗 Share this article

America's Secretary of the Army, Dan Driscoll, emerged as an unlikely envoy for the White House's latest initiative to end the conflict in Ukraine. His close connection with Vice President Vance has positioned a close associate of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the center of Donald Trump recent effort to settle the conflict.

Prior to his last week's visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a mediator or statesman, and his initial attempts to promote the agreement to officials in Europe were labeled chaotic.

Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, who he studied and shares a close friendship, indicate the resurgence of the isolationist VP in talks to resolve the Ukraine war.

Vance's Involvement in Ceasefire Efforts

This was Vance who intervened during Ukraine's president's rocky first visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more respect. Now, Ukraine is once again pushing back against demands from the US to accept a swift settlement that Ukrainian leaders have called a capitulation.

Following a tumultuous first year in office, international actions in the White House are said to be shaped by a small group of Trump's top aides, 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 advocate of the recent plan, which was developed by Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, together with the Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev.

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

Initial Attempts and European Responses

Vance's early efforts at hammering out a peace deal with Russia, while also seeking to restore ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his camp feeling disappointed with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were angered by his early remarks, in which he charged them of ignoring their voters, who Vance said held anti-immigration and right-leaning views similar to those of Trump's own supporters.

But, the new ceasefire proposal closely resembled his stances, and he has been one of the most forceful advocates for the deal in the government, even as the US has been criticized for accepting a ceasefire plan that largely resembles Vladimir Putin's extreme demands.

In posts this weekend, Vance asserted that a peace deal would have to establish a ceasefire that honored Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to each party, and stop the conflict from restarting.

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

Additionally, it was Vance who followed up on the introduction of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had mainly tasked his team with obtaining a agreement on the ceasefire accord before Thanksgiving this week in the United States.

Rubio's Reaction and Private Concerns

Vance's stance was a distinctly more full-throated support of the proposal than that given by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hawk in the administration who has transitioned from a shaky position inside the White House to more firm footing.

Rubio was a member of a US team that traveled to Geneva this weekend to confer with Ukrainian leaders to help refine the initial 28-point peace plan in order to make it more acceptable to leaders in Kyiv.

But, his initial reaction to the deal was lukewarm:

“Ending a complex and violent war such as the one in Ukraine requires an extensive exchange of substantive and realistic proposals,” Rubio stated over the weekend. “And, achieving a durable peace will require both sides to consent to challenging but necessary compromises. That is why we are and will persist to create a list of potential solutions for ending this war drawing from input from both sides of this conflict.”

In private, he was said to be much more skeptical of the proposal. The GOP lawmaker Mike Rounds stated recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had called lawmakers to clarify that the deal was merely a preliminary offer from the Russians and not an initiative pushed by the White House.

“The Secretary did make a phone call to us this afternoon and I think 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. “It is not our recommendation, it is not our peace plan.”

Rubio moved quickly to align himself. “This ceasefire plan was written by the US,” he later stated. “It is presented as a solid structure for ongoing discussions. It is based on feedback from the Moscow. But, it is additionally based on previous and ongoing contributions from Ukraine.”