US President Joe Biden sought to prevent Beijing giving new life to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a video call on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as Moscow pressed on with bombardments that have taken the place of military advances.

China is the one big power that has yet to condemn Russia’s assault and Washington says it fears Beijing may be considering giving financial and military support, something that both
Russia and China deny.

Xi Jinping told his US counterpart that the Ukraine crisis was something “China did not want to see,” and that Beijing and Washington should guide bilateral relations along the right track, Chinese state media said after he and Biden began their call.

The White House reported later the call had lasted just under two hours.

Russian rockets reach Lviv

With Russia trying to regain the initiative in a stalled campaign, three missiles landed on Friday at an airport near Lviv, a city where hundreds of thousands thought they had found refuge far from Ukraine’s battlefields.

The Russian defence ministry also said it was “tightening the noose” around the besieged southern port of Mariupol, where officials said more than 1,000 people may still be trapped in
makeshift bomb shelters beneath a destroyed theatre.

Ukraine said it had so far rescued 130 people from the theatre’s basement after the building was flattened by Russian strikes two days ago.