Chief of the General Staff General Yury Baluyevsky, speaking at a news conference in Brussels, said there were currently 1.134 million people serving in Russia's armed forces.
"These 1.134 million people should be brought down to 1 million by 2016," he said.
In his address to both houses of parliament, ministers and reporters, Putin said there was no role for an army of the current size in today's world, but ruled out downsizing the army's combat units, saying the target of a million people would be achieved through men retiring from the ranks.
Putin said Russia would continue its gradual transition to a professional army with the goal of securing two-thirds of the army manned by contracted personnel forming about 600 constant combat readiness units by 2011. Only contracted servicemen will participate in anti-terrorism operations, he added.
