PRAGUE, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Czech President Milos Zeman on Wednesday attended the celebration of Victory Day at the Embassy of Russia here.

In his speech in Russian, Zeman said: "World War II was a war of racial hatred" and called for joining forces against terrorism.

Zeman said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed on starting the first session of the Czech-Russian discussion forum in early June.

Zeman said sanctions against Russia do not help, and only hamper economic exchanges. He said he would like to turn this public appearance into an initiative of the Czech Republic within the EU.