MOSCOW, June 3 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday that First Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Makarov has been appointed as the armed forces' chief of general staff, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

　　Makarov will replace Yuri Baluyevsky, who becomes deputy head of the country's Security Council, Medvedev was quoted as saying.

　　"The Chief of the General Staff will have to handle many problems jointly with the Russian Security Council," he said during a meeting with Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, Baluyevsky and Makarov in the Kremlin.

　　The president thanked Baluyevsky "for his strenuous work, aimed at upgrading the Russian Armed Forces," saying he had signed a decree on awarding a medal to him.

　　Makarov, 58, said he would work with the Defense Ministry and the Security Council to achieve the goals set for the armed forces.

　　The new chief of general staff, who was appointed Serdyukov's deputy last April, was in charge of the Siberia military district between 2002 and 2007.