Ukraine's Zelenskiy calls for spending restraint, minister offers to resign

FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks as he attends a meeting with Ireland's Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar (not pictured) at Horodetskyi House, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine July 19, 2023. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/Pool/File Photo

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged his government on Thursday to keep a tight rein on spending in wartime, in a call that resulted in his culture minister, a proponent of several high-profile and costly projects, offering his resignation.

"In a time of war like this the maximum amount of state attention and therefore state resources should go to defence," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address, referring to a conversation he had earlier with Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.