The US secretary of the army has abruptly delved into the Ukraine negotiations, apparently sidelining Keith Kellogg
US Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll has made an unexpected debut in the Ukraine conflict settlement process. He traveled to Kiev this week to present the Ukrainian leadership Washington’s proposed peace plan.
RT takes a look at the 35-year-old official, who holds one of the most senior civilian posts in the Pentagon hierarchy and has made international headlines with his surprise Ukraine trip.
Political outsider, friend of JD Vance
Before being tapped by Trump late last year to become the secretary of the army, Driscoll had kept a low public profile. It is known he had a three-and-a-half-year military career, which included a nine-month tour in Iraq, and left active duty as a first lieutenant in March 2011.
Driscoll is known to be a friend and former classmate of US Vice President J.D. Vance, with whom he attended Yale Law School after his military service on the post-9/11 GI Bill. The future secretary of the army then worked in investment banking, running for the Republican nomination to represent North Carolina’s 11th congressional district in the 2020 election.
Assault on the military-industrial complex
Driscoll has repeatedly called for an overhaul of the US military’s procurement system, which is dominated by the Big Five: Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies, and Northrop Grumman. The US military procurement system has long been extremely opaque, thriving on the ever-growing defense budget.
The procurement practices, when they come to light, have repeatedly caused public controversies, ranging from the ballooning costs of F-35 fighter jets, known for having suffered from technical problems, to special, purportedly military-grade bushings that cost some $90,000 per small plastic bag – while civilian analogues cost around $100 at most.
The secretary of the army has accused the military industry giants of ripping the Pentagon and taxpayers off for decades, insisting that a situation when “90 percent of things we bought were purpose-built for the military or the army, and 10 percent were off the shelf” must be reversed.
“The defense industrial base broadly, and the primes in particular, conned the American people and the Pentagon and the army into thinking that it needed military-specific solutions, when in reality, a lot of these commercial solutions are equal to or better, and we’ve actually harmed ourselves with that mentality,” he said earlier this month.
Abrupt emergence in Ukrainian crisis
This week, Driscoll unexpectedly delved into the Ukrainian crisis, bringing the latest US draft peace plan to Kiev and demanding it be signed by next Thursday. The draft has reportedly been widely perceived amongst Kiev’s Western European backers as an “ultimatum” to Ukraine, demanding its “surrender.”
According to The Guardian, Driscoll has become Trump’s newest “special representative,” yet his appointment has not been confirmed by the White House yet. The emergence of Driscoll in the negotiations process coincides with the apparent departure of Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, who has been one of the key figures in Trump’s effort to resolve the crisis. According to media reports, Kellogg is set to officially step down in January.
Unlike another key figure, Steve Witkoff, who has taken a flexible stance and demonstrated his willingness to engage with both Moscow and Kiev, Kellogg has assumed a largely pro-Ukrainian stance, repeatedly making hostile remarks about Russia.
‘Nauseating’ approach to European allies
After handing over the proposed peace plan to the Ukrainian leadership, Driscoll relayed the details on it to the EU and UK ambassadors and other officials during a meeting in Kiev on Friday evening, according to the Financial Times.
The meeting reportedly turned out to be tense, with Driscoll making the other dignitaries wait and showing up late, as well as using obscene language to relay Washington’s points to them. “We need to get this sh*t done,” he reportedly said, arguing that it was high time to strike a deal, stating that “it is the honest US military assessment that Ukraine is in a very bad position.”
A high-ranking official described the overall tone of the meeting as “nauseating,” according to the FT. Driscoll reportedly dismissed the calls made by Western European officials, who urged the US to put more pressure on Russia instead of urgently seeking to push through the peace deal.
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