BEIJING, Feb 27: China and Russia said on Thursday war against Iraq “can and should be avoided” and pledged to do their utmost to bring the United States and North Korea into talks to resolve the crisis over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.

Analysts said the joint appeal was a denunciation of the U.S. push for an invasion of Iraq, but it remained unclear whether China would veto, support or abstain from a second U.N. resolution.

“Both sides reiterate their determination to render their full efforts for promoting a political solution to the Iraqi issue,” said a joint communique issued by the two countries’ foreign ministers.

It noted the international community had called widely for all measures to avoid war. “Such aspiration should be respected,” the communique said.

“The two sides advocate to resolve the Iraqi crisis through political and diplomatic means,” it said, adding that weapons inspections had made definite progress and must continue.

“I think the implication is very clear: This is actually a further step in the anti-war appeal. It’s actually an indirect criticism of the preparatory process to war led by the United States and Britain,” said Wang Yizhou, deputy director of the World Political and Economic Institute, a state-run think-tank.

“It will have some impact given the next two weeks will be the debating period at the U.N. Security Council, but how big the impact will be is still unclear because we all know the U.S. is the superpower.”

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov’s visit to China came on the heels of a trip by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who urged Beijing to use its influence in Pyongyang and stressed Washington’s desire for swift action on Iraq.

Publicly, Russia and China — both permanent veto-holding members of the U.N. Security Council — appear unified on Iraq. Both have reiterated they oppose war and want more time for U.N. inspectors.

Still, Western diplomats and analysts noted that Beijing, unlike Moscow, has not been pushing its own peace proposals for the Iraqi crisis and suggested China could still abstain on a new resolution before the U.N. Security Council.

“It’s not easy to tell how China will vote. It’s a complicated issue. China will take into consideration its interests and U.N. Security Council solidarity,” said Zhu Feng, director of Beijing University’s international security programme.

Ultimately it did not want to be isolated on Iraq, and would follow the lead of others, including Russia.

“How they are going to vote will really depend on what the French and the Russians do,” said a Western diplomat in Beijing.

“I don’t get the impression that the Chinese want to be out in front on this at all.”

PUSH FOR DIALOGUE: Russia and China, Pyongyang’s closest allies, also promised to push for dialogue between the United States and North Korea to resolve a crisis that erupted in October, when Washington said Pyongyang had admitted to a nuclear weapons programme.