Bogdan Frolov15:38, 25.11.25

JD Vance and Marco Rubio hold opposing views on the path to peace.

When it comes to Ukraine, US Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have diametrically opposed views on the path to peace – and whose position prevails will determine the future of the Western security architecture.

In one corner is an isolationist who calls for “realism” in the face of Russia’s military superiority. In the other is a secretary of state who once called Kremlin dictator Putin a “gangster” and represents the hawkish wing of the traditional Republican Party, writes The Telegraph .

Vance was reported to have the upper hand last week. He called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to outline the terms of the 28-point plan, which many criticized as Moscow’s wish list. The call was followed by a personal visit to Kyiv by Dan Driscoll, the US Secretary of the Army and a longtime friend of Vance’s from his time at Yale Law School.

He warned that the president’s patience was wearing thin: Kyiv needed to acknowledge that the front was collapsing and agree to hand over territory to Russia. Media reports indicate that policy in the White House is often formed “bottom-up.” Trump wants a deal on Ukraine, but has left the details of the final version to his subordinates.

Had he fully embraced the 28-point plan prepared by his chief envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff, and Russia’s chief negotiator, Kirill Dmitriev, Ukraine might have ultimately faced capitulation. But Trump stopped short, declaring that it was not “his final offer” after a flurry of protests in Kyiv and across Europe.

Is Rubio Trump’s Chief Ukraine Negotiator or Not?

Trump’s admission that the 28 points he outlined were not a “final solution” gave Rubio the chance to intervene—and he has since led hours of talks with the Ukrainian delegation in Geneva.

Journalists emphasize that European leaders were relieved by Rubio’s return. They believed he had become the president’s chief negotiator on Ukraine after he effectively derailed preparations for a second Trump-Putin summit by declaring that Russia was unwilling to make the necessary concessions.

However, the Europeans were caught off guard by the parallel negotiating process led by Wittkoff, which saw him meet with Dmitriev in Miami last month to hammer out 28 points.

After three days of intense discussions—including meetings at Whitkoff’s home—Trump’s special envoy concluded that Ukraine was in a weaker military position. According to sources, Whitkoff, Dmitriev, and Jared Kushner, who participated in the discussions, agreed on the peace plan, although Dmitriev had much more specific demands.

He demanded that Ukraine be banned from joining NATO, that troops be withdrawn from the entire Donbas, and that a limit be placed on the size of the army—all of these points were included in the original version of the document.

Rubio’s Humiliation

Rubio was not involved in preparing the 28-point proposal and only learned about it recently.

During a call with senators last weekend, details of which were later leaked to the press, Rubio reportedly called the plan “just a Russian proposal” (the document, he claimed, was “poorly translated into English”). He later publicly corrected his position, writing on Twitter that the plan was developed by the United States with the participation of Russia and Ukraine.

Steve Bannon, a close associate of Vance, told the publication that Rubio was “humiliated” by senators who leaked his criticism of the draft agreement. He also accused British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who actively coordinated with European leaders on the response to Witkoff’s plan, of “playing Churchill with more empty promises of troops, weapons, and money.”

Sources close to the White House claim that Vance and Rubio are indeed working together—albeit at an angle. Any final agreement would need to be ratified by the Senate if it requires a level of U.S. commitment—for example, regarding security guarantees.

One of The Telegraph’s sources stated that Rubio was initially “disconnected from the Ukraine issue,” with the president’s team taking the initiative. But then he was “brought into phase two” to bring the deal to a format the Senate—which is tougher on Russia than the White House—could accept.

But one US official said: “It was total chaos all day, with different parts of the White House not understanding what was going on. Rubio went into the process and was forced to reverse the situation. It was essentially Witkoff and Kushner’s plan. Rubio found himself in a difficult position.”

(c)UNIAN 2025