Armenpress News Agency, Armenia July 14, 2017 Friday Armenia is our second defense echelon, says Zhirinovsky YEREVAN, JULY 14, ARMENPRESS. On July 14, the Russian State Duma ratified the Russian-Armenian agreement on creating a joint troops formation, Russia media reported. Speaking on the agreement, Russian lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky, president of the Liberal-Democratic Party, mentioned that Russia and Armenia have always had strong friendly relations, which stems from the interests of both countries. “Armenia is our second defense echelon and it has always been. We have an agreement on creating a joint defense area with Armenia, which we will prolong further”, he said. The agreement on forming the joint troops was signed in Moscow on November 30, 2016.