When asked about Ukraine at a regular press briefing yesterday, foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang answered indirectly. "China has always upheld the principles of diplomacy and the fundamental norms of international relations," he said.

Qin also referred to his statement posted on the ministry's website a day earlier, which also noted that "there are reasons that the Ukrainian situation is what it is today".

Niu Jun , a professor of international affairs at Peking University, said: "What this statement is really saying is, 'what Russia did was not right and China does not want to support this military invasion'."

But China also wants to support Russia, so it came up with excuses such as Russia's history with Crimea and Ukraine's internal situation, he said.

Diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis continued with the United Nations Security Council holding an emergency meeting, this time at the request of Russia and US Vice-President Joe Biden held a telephone conversation with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. US Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Kiev this week in a show of support for the embattled leadership.

The European Union, meanwhile, was trying to overcome differences on how to respond with hawkish ex-Soviet satellites pushing for sanctions but others like France and Germany calling for soft diplomacy. Germany said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed with Chancellor Angela Merkel to set up a contact group on Ukraine.

Watch: Obama: Russia in "violation of international law" in Ukraine