Russia does not provide Armenia with armament that "can promote the settlement of the republic's strategic tasks in the eastern direction," Chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff Yuri Baluyevsky stated. "Almost equal number of troops was deployed in Armenia and Azerbaijan in the soviet period. After the collapse of the USSR all the armament remained on the territory of these states. It is incorrect now to say that one state is armed and the other is weak. Armenia is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and Russia's major ally in the South Caucasian region, however Russia does not arm Armenia," Yuri Baluyevsky stated.