The publication noted that the popularity of Driscoll, who this week actually acted as an important international negotiator, contrasts with the position of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who “is not very trusted in terms of conveying messages to key leaders.”
Driscoll is also a close friend of US Vice President J.D. Vance and they attended Yale Law School together, the article says. According to a media source close to the White House, his friendship with Vance “certainly helped him get the job,” but all of his success is based on his own merits. Another source considers Driscoll “the most impressive member of the US administration.” According to him, he has built strong relationships in the West Wing and is respected among the leadership.
Driscoll's visit to Kyiv initially included discussions of an agreement on some of the innovative Ukrainian drone technology that Trump is seeking to achieve, one of the officials said. The US President calls him “the drone guy” due to his passion for cutting-edge technology. But in the end the visit became much more important. It followed a meeting at the White House last week, when Trump “enthusiastically gave Driscoll his blessing to take on important new diplomatic responsibilities.”
Driscoll's expanded foreign policy role in the administration may continue, media outlets suggest. He is increasingly the public face of ambitious projects and often “propagates” the administration's plans to journalists.
Trump has appointed Driscoll as his new “special envoy,” according to The Guardian.
Context
Media reported on November 19 that Trump approved a 28-point plan to “achieve peace” between Russia and Ukraine. Witkoff, US Vice President J.D. Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner took part in its preparation. The document was developed in consultation with the Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, Ukraine is in this process didn't participatethe media reported.
Western media published some details of the proposal. Among them is granting the status of the state language to the Russian language; media sources also claim that, according to the plan, the United States may recognize the occupied Donbass and Crimea as Russian, Ukraine will be required to reduce the size of its army by half, sanctions will be lifted from Russia and the investigation of its war crimes in Ukraine will be stopped. FT wrote that this means the capitulation of Ukraine and that the agreement is very convenient for the illegitimate Russian President Vladimir Putin. We are also talking about Ukraine’s refusal to join NATO “for at least several years” and a ban on the deployment of peacekeeping forces on the territory of the country
On November 20, the US delegation led by US Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll officially handed over to Zelensky a draft “peace plan”, which, according to the American side, can intensify diplomacy. Teams from Ukraine and the United States will work on the points of the “peace plan” to end the war, Zelensky noted after a meeting with the American delegation. The media wrote that at the meeting, the President of Ukraine and the US Secretary of the Army agreed on “tight deadlines” for signing the “peace plan.”
The United States expects Ukraine to sign a “peace agreement” by November 27.
On the same day, Zelensky discussed the “peace plan” with US Vice President JD Vance. According to the Ukrainian president, Driscoll also took part in the conversation.
