US officials have acknowledged Russia's continued intransigence to any ceasefire agreement, while reiterating that Ukraine remains committed to US President Donald Trump's proposed 30-day ceasefire.
US Special Envoy for Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, said on May 6 that Russian President Vladimir Putin's refusal to agree is the main obstacle and that Russia will suffer if the parties do not agree to a comprehensive ceasefire, as it is "not winning the war".
This is according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Kellogg noted Russia's inability to secure positions on the west (right) bank of the Dnieper River in Kherson Oblast, its inability to reach the cities of Kiev and Odessa - in line with the ISW assessment, that Russia's combat situation has worsened since 2022.
US Vice President J.D. Vance said on May 7 that the United States believes Russia is "asking for too much".
Kellogg said Ukraine was ready to accept a "ceasefire on the ground", which would require both Russia and Ukraine to withdraw 15 kilometers from the current front line to establish a 30-kilometer demilitarized zone that could come under an unspecified monitoring mechanism. Members of the British-French-led Coalition of the Willing are ready to deploy "ceasefire forces" west of the Dnieper River, which will patrol and enforce the comprehensive ceasefire.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to Kellogg's statement on May 7, claiming that Russia had not received any Ukrainian proposals to establish a demilitarized zone.
The Kremlin has also repeatedly and categorically rejected the prospect of European peacekeepers in Ukraine, saying it would be unacceptable.
Russia remains committed to its long-standing efforts to extend peace talks in order to achieve successes on the battlefield and try to secure further concessions from the United States.
Ukrainian forces may have recently advanced across the international border in southern Tetkino, Kursk Oblast, amid continued limited Ukrainian attacks in the area. Geolocated footage released on May 6 shows Russian forces carrying out an airstrike on a building in southern Tetkino (southwest of Glushkovo), indicating that Ukrainian forces may have taken positions in Tetkino.
On May 6, Russian bloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces had taken up to two streets in the southern part of Tetkino, and on May 7, they continued to claim that Ukrainian forces were maintaining positions in the settlement.
Ukrainian forces carried out long-range drone strikes against defense industrial sites and air bases in Russia on the night of May 6–7. The head of the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation, Lieutenant Andriy Kovalenko, who often reports on successful Ukrainian strikes against Russian territory, reported on May 7 that Ukrainian forces had struck and severely damaged an optical systems plant in Saransk, Republic of Mordovia.
Russian bloggers also claimed that Ukrainian forces had struck the plant.
The optical systems plant is the only plant in Russia that produces fiber-optic cables, which Russian forces increasingly rely on to operate optical first-person view (FPV) drones on the battlefield in Ukraine. Ukraine hit the same plant on April 5.
The Russian Defense Ministry (MoD) claims that Russian air defense systems shot down at least nine drones over the Kaluga region, at least six drones over the Tula region, and at least two drones over the Moscow region.
Russian authorities are likely to completely cut off large areas of Russia from the internet on May 9 under the pretext of protecting Russian Victory Day celebrations. Officials in the republics of Chuvashia and Tatarstan and in the Voronezh and Tver regions warned on May 7 that authorities may restrict mobile network use to "guarantee security" on May 9.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned on May 7 that Moscow city and regional authorities may impose "restrictions" on the operation of the mobile Internet during the Victory Day celebrations "for obvious reasons" and said that Russians "should treat this with absolute understanding".
Several Russian banks and the Internet giant Yandex warned that the disruption of the connection is likely to affect Russians' access to banking, taxi, courier and public transport services, especially in Moscow-City and the region.
Reports of significant Russian internet outages have increased in the first months of 2025, and Russian authorities are likely seeking to use the May 9 holiday to conduct a large-scale test of the Sovereign Internet system without encountering significant resistance from Russians.
The Kremlin is also likely seeking to prevent Russians from distributing footage of damage and fires from possible long-range Ukrainian strikes on May 9, to avoid shattering the facade that Russia’s victory in Ukraine is imminent, on Victory Day itself—even though Russia has no significant combat successes to boast about for the holiday in 2025.
Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to have rejected a recent request from the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, to resign from his post. Putin and Kadyrov met on 7 May to discuss socio-economic issues in the Chechen Republic.
Kadyrov concluded the meeting by thanking Putin for his positive assessment of the efforts to generate Chechen forces and the participation of Chechen forces in Russia's war in Ukraine.
Kadyrov stated that "we will not disappoint [Putin]", to which Putin replied: "I have no doubt", suggesting that Putin expects Kadyrov to continue leading the republic. Kadyrov expressed his desire to resign from his post on 5 May in an interview with "Chechnya Segodnya", but noted on 6 May that only Putin could authorize such a decision.