The US Army Secretary, Daniel Driscoll, emerged as an surprising envoy for the White House's latest initiative to end the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Driscoll's close relationship with JD Vance has placed a key ally of the Eurosceptic vice-president at the center of Donald Trump recent push to conclude the war.
Prior to his recent visit to Kyiv, Driscoll was not known as a negotiator or diplomat, and his early attempts to promote the agreement to European policymakers were labeled turbulent.
Driscoll's close relationship with Vance, with whom he studied and maintains a close friendship, indicate the rising influence of the isolationist VP in negotiations to resolve the Ukraine crisis.
This was Vance who stepped in during Volodymyr Zelenskyy rocky first visit to the Trump White House in March and insisted he show Trump more courtesy. Currently, Ukraine is again pushing back against demands from the US to agree to a quick deal that local officials have described as a surrender.
After a tumultuous first year in office, foreign policy decisions in the White House are said to be shaped by a handful of Trump's key advisers, including top aide Susie Wiles, conservative adviser Stephen Miller, envoy Steve Witkoff, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and of course 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 Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev.
“All objection of the peace framework the administration is working on either misinterprets the proposal or misstates some key reality on the ground,” Vance wrote.
Vance's initial attempts at negotiating a peace deal with Russia, while also seeking to renew ties with Moscow, were fruitless and left his team feeling frustrated with their Russian counterparts. Leaders in Europe, meanwhile, were angered by his initial speeches, in which he accused them of running from their constituents, who Vance claimed held restrictionist and right-leaning positions similar to those of Trump's own supporters.
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 endorsing a peace framework that largely echoes Vladimir Putin's maximalist terms.
In social media updates this weekend, Vance argued that a peace deal would have to produce a truce that honored Ukrainian independence, be agreeable to each party, and prevent the conflict from resuming.
“A ceasefire will not be made by failed negotiators or politicians residing in a dream world,” he added. “An agreement could be made by intelligent people living in the actual situation.”
Additionally, it was Vance who continued on the presentation of the ceasefire proposal in a phone call with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump had primarily instructed his team with securing a signature on the peace deal before Thanksgiving this Thursday in the United States.
Vance's stance was a distinctly more enthusiastic endorsement of the proposal than that given by the top diplomat and security advisor, Marco Rubio, a more conventional hardliner in the government who has transitioned from a uncertain position inside the administration to more firm standing.
Rubio was a member of a US team that traveled to Geneva this weekend to meet with Ukrainian officials to help moderate the original 28-point ceasefire proposal in order to make it more palatable to leaders in Kyiv.
However, his initial response to the deal was tepid:
“Ending a complex and deadly conflict such as the one in Ukraine requires an thorough exchange of serious and pragmatic ideas,” Rubio stated recently. “And, securing a lasting ceasefire will require both sides to consent to challenging but essential concessions. That is why we are and will persist to create a list of possible solutions for ending this war based on feedback from each party of this war.”
Behind closed doors, he was said to be much more doubtful of the proposal. The Republican senator Mike Rounds stated recently at the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia that Rubio had contacted lawmakers to clarify that the deal was merely a initial offer from the Russians and not an plan pushed by the administration.
“Rubio made a call to us this afternoon and I believe he emphasized to us that we are the receivers of a offer that was delivered to one of our representatives,” said 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 later wrote. “The framework is presented as a solid framework for ongoing discussions. It is based on input from the Moscow. However, it is also based on earlier and ongoing input from Ukraine.”
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