Chinese leader Xi Jinping said war is "in no one's interest" during a phone call Friday with President Joe Biden, but he showed no sign of giving in to US pressure to join Western condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
State broadcaster CCTV reported that Mr Xi said during the call that "state-to-state relations cannot go to the stage of military hostilities".
And in a longer readout published by the Chinese foreign ministry, Mr Xi said "all sides" need to support "dialogue" between Russia and Ukraine.
He also appeared to put some responsibility for Russia's invasion of its neighbour on the West, saying "the US and NATO should also have dialogue with Russia to address the crux of the Ukraine crisis and ease security concerns of both Russia and Ukraine," the foreign ministry noted.
The phone call, which lasted one hour and 50 minutes, ended at 10:53 am in Washington, the White House said.
Xi Jinping waves during the closing ceremony at the 2022 Winter Paralympics on 13 March 2022. Credit: AAP
China should "understand that their future is with the United States, with Europe, with other developed and developing countries around the world. Their future is not to stand with Vladimir Putin," Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told CNN earlier Friday.
Beijing has consistently refused to condemn its fellow authoritarian ally and Washington fears China could now deliver financial and military support for Russia, transforming an already explosive transatlantic standoff into a global dispute.
If that happened, not only could Beijing help Mr Putin to weather sanctions and continue his war, but Western governments would face the painful decision of how to strike back at the world's second-biggest economy, likely prompting turmoil on international markets.
The White House was tight-lipped on whether Mr Biden would threaten China with economic sanctions during his call, but some sort of response was on the table.
Mr Biden "will make clear that China will bear responsibility for any actions it takes to support Russia's aggression and we will not hesitate to impose costs," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said ahead of the call.
Mr Blinken urged China to use its "leverage" on Moscow.
China 'balancing competing priorities'
The Biden-Xi call came after US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Yang Jiechi, the Chinese Communist Party's chief diplomat, held what the White House called a "substantial" seven-hour meeting in Rome this week.
Mr Xi and Mr Putin symbolically sealed their close partnership when they met at the February Winter Olympics in Beijing - just before Putin launched his onslaught on Ukraine.
Since then, Beijing has stood out by refusing to join international outcry over the invasion, while taking the Russian line in blaming the United States and NATO for European tensions.
Chinese authorities even refuse to refer to the invasion as a "war," again in keeping with Kremlin talking points.
But China has also tried to remain somewhat ambiguous, declaring support for Ukraine's sovereignty.
Brookings Institution fellow Ryan Hass, a former advisor on China to president Barack Obama, said Beijing has to sort through its clashing priorities.
Despite the coziness with Moscow, China - the world's biggest exporter - is tightly bound to the United States and other Western economies. It also wants to play a leadership role in the world.
"China's and Russia's interests are not in alignment. Putin is an arsonist of the international system and President Xi sees himself as an architect for remaking and improving the international system," Hass said.
"President Xi is trying to balance competing priorities. He really places a lot of value in China's partnership with Russia but at the same time he does not want to undermine China's relations in the West."
Civilians survive Ukraine theatre strike as deadly fighting rages
Ukraine had feared the biggest single toll yet from Russia's invasion in the port city of Mariupol, after the Drama Theatre was bombed on Wednesday despite signs proclaiming that children were sheltering there.
Officials said that up to 1,000 people may have been taking refuge in a bomb shelter underneath the theatre.
Ukraine's President Voldymyr Zelensky had vowed to continue the rescue operation in Mariupol "despite shelling" by Russian forces that has reduced the southern city to smoking ruins.
Russian missiles struck an aircraft repair site close to Lviv's airport in Ukraine's far west, extending the war to a relatively unscathed region near the border with NATO member Poland.
The Russian defence ministry said in a statement the strike destroyed an area housing Ukrainian fighter jets, munitions stores and military equipment.
No fatalities were reported in that strike, but early-morning strikes took lives across other Ukrainian cities.
Putin meanwhile held a triumphalist rally in Moscow despite signs that his ground offensive is flagging.
Authorities in Kyiv said one person was killed when a Russian rocket struck residential tower blocks in the capital's northwestern suburbs. They said a school and playground were also hit.
A body lay under a sheet, near a huge crater, after the blast blew out every one of the school's windows.
Fourteen-year-old Anna-Maria Romanchuk's lip trembled after the missile exploded outside her school, the Gymnasium No. 34 Lydia.
"Scary," she said in halting English, her face pale with shock as her mother comforted her. "I just hope that everything will be OK."
