As war breaks out in Europe, China blames the US.

(CNN) — As Russian missiles flew through the Ukrainian sky on Thursday and world leaders denounced an invasion sweeping across the country, China refused to roundly condemn Russia’s action and appeared to blame the United States and its allies.

Beijing finds itself in a complex position as Russia’s invasion of its neighbor intensifies, needing to balance a close strategic partnership with Moscow with its seemingly contradictory policy of supporting state sovereignty.

A Chinese government official on Thursday dodged questions about whether he would condemn Russia’s actions or consider them an “invasion.”

Instead, China’s Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying, who repeated serious phrases about seeking peace through dialogue and said the situation was “not what we would expect to see,” was quick to point the finger at the US. Suggesting that Washington was “guilty” of “stoking the flames”, referring to US warnings in recent weeks of an imminent invasion.

“China has taken a responsible attitude and persuaded all parties not to escalate tensions or incite war… Those who follow the example of the United States to fan the flames and then blame others are truly irresponsible,” said.

The comments echoed events a day before the invasion, when Hua blamed “NATO’s eastward expansion to Russia’s gates” for the crisis.

“Have you ever thought about the consequences of pushing a great country against the wall?” he said.

Hua’s presence at the briefing both days was itself unusual, as the veteran spokeswoman had not stood on the podium at such briefings since she was promoted to vice foreign minister in October.

His comments were widely reported on China’s official state media and social media platforms, where talk of Ukraine dominated coverage and conversation.

‘War is not funny’

But while state media reflected the official government line, the top trending topics on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, included a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin with more than 360 million views, as well as others seeking about how Ukrainian citizens were reacting, such as a post about people lining up to donate blood with 62 million views.

The topic “Ukrainian President Says Western Countries Completely Give Up on Ukraine” topped the morning chart, racking up more than a billion views throughout the day and tens of thousands of comments.

Many of those comments on the highly moderate platform mocked Ukraine and its president Volodymyr Zelensky for being “pro-Western” and applauded Russia and Putin.

But others responded: “War is not funny at all,” wrote one user, whose post received more than 60,000 likes. “It makes me physically sick to see all the jokes about the war.”

Elsewhere online, the home pages of China’s major state media took a measured approach, citing statements and news from both the Ukrainian and Russian sides, while focusing on sanctions imposed by other countries against Russia. .

Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily highlighted Chinese Foreign Ministry comments pointing to how the US has been “raising tensions and exaggerating the war”.

A glimpse into the kind of guidance state media can have emerged on Tuesday, when what appeared to be an internal memo from Chinese state media Beijing News directing its employees not to publish “Russia-negative or pro-Western” news reports was mistakenly posted on the official social media account of the outlet.

The post, which was quickly removed, also instructed employees to “filter and post appropriate comments.” Beijing News, controlled by the Beijing government, declined CNN’s request to comment on the incident.

A relationship ‘without limits’

The Russian invasion comes on the heels of a meeting earlier this month between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Putin, who showed their strong bond with a highly publicized meeting ahead of the Beijing Olympics and declared “no limits” to their relationship. .

But an outright endorsement of Russian moves would put China at odds with the West. It would also contradict China’s usual vocal support for state sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In a telephone conversation between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Thursday, Wang expressed understanding for Russia’s “legitimate concerns” on security issues, but said “China always respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries,” according to a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry, which did not say what time the call took place.

China has denied complicity in Russia’s moves, but Western leaders are paying close attention to the Moscow-Beijing relationship as events in Ukraine unfold.

When Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison unveiled new sanctions against Russia on Friday, he said he was “concerned about the lack of a strong response from China.”

Morrison said China’s decision to start importing Russian wheat, based on a deal made earlier this month, was “unacceptable” as Australia, the US, Europe, the UK and Japan acted to “isolate” to Russia.

China has responded to the West’s decision to impose a series of economic sanctions on Russia in recent days. In his remarks on Wednesday, Hua noted China’s position that sanctions are “never” effective.

“Will the Ukraine problem be solved thanks to US sanctions on Russia? Will European security be better ensured thanks to US sanctions on Russia?” he asked.

CNN’s Isaac Yee contributed to this report