Senior Russian officials have warned President Vladimir Putin that spending on the war in Ukraine is becoming too expensive and is putting pressure on the country’s budget. Officials from Russia’s Finance Ministry and central bank say defence spending risks pushing the budget deficit to unsafe levels, according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by Bloomberg News.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. They have called for cuts or efficiency savings in military spending as financial pressure increases. However, defense officials and others in the security establishment are pushing back, arguing that cutting military spending would weaken the war effort and hurt industries that depend on state military contracts. According to people familiar with the talks, President Vladimir Putin has told the finance ministry to look for savings in other parts of the budget before cutting defense spending. At the same time, Russia’s war costs are already exceeding earlier plans. According to a Financial Times report citing an internal government document, military spending is expected to be about 2 trillion rubles ($28 billion) higher than planned this year. The document, based on a letter from Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, warns that the government may need to freeze spending in other areas to cover the gap. In a worse case, the shortfall could grow to 4 trillion rubles ($56 billion) in the coming years.