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BEIJING, Thursday (Reuters)-China, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, called on Thursday for an immediate halt to the U.S.-led war against Iraq and a return to efforts to resolve the crisis peacefully.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said the war was a violation of the U.N. charter and international law.

"We strongly urge relevant countries to immediately stop military action," he told a news conference without mentioning the United States by name.

"They ignored the opposition of most countries and peoples of the world and went around the U.N. Security Council to begin military action against Iraq," he said.

"This constitutes a violation of the U.N. charter and international principles," he said.

"We hereby express our grave concern."

Meanwhile.Russia, which fought hard diplomatically to prevent any resort to military action against Iraq, said it regretted the U.S.-led attack on Baghdad on Thursday. Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, speaking hours after the U.S.-led coalition launched hostilities, said Russia had made every effort to avert a war.

"The Russian leadership expresses regret that the Iraqi crisis is being resolved by military means without a decision by the U.N. Security Council, that is to say by the system of international security," he told a weekly government meeting.

Putin was to address the nation later, the Kremlin said.

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