MOSCOW, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for the establishment of a multipolar-world mechanism, Interfax news agency said on Saturday.

    With the world entering a new era, the conventional "cold-war thinking" of some Westerners to curb Russia has lost its realistic meaning, Lavrov said at a session of the Foreign and Defense Policy Council.

    All countries should adopt coordinated foreign policies and make efforts to set up a new mechanism of a multipolar world, he said.

    Lavrov used "cautious optimism" in evaluating Russian-U.S. relations, according to Interfax.

    It will take some time for Russia and the United States to restore mutual trust, but they are moving in the right direction, Lavrov said.

    "We are satisfied with how our relations with the new (U.S.) administration are developing," he said.

    The minister believed that the NATO-Russia Council should serve as a foundation of future cooperation in the Euro-Atlantic area.

    The NRC was established in 2002 as a forum for direct dialogue between the NATO and Moscow and was suspended following the Russia-Georgia military conflict in August 2008.

    The leaders of NATO member states agreed in Strasbourg on April4 to relaunch talks with Russia in the framework of the NRC.

    However, Lavrov ruled out the possibility for Russia to join NATO in the near future.

    Speaking about the Afghan issue, Lavrov said Russia and the United States came to an agreement recently that Afghanistan would be one of their priorities.

    "We have opportunities for mutually complementing efforts here," he said.

    Concerning the entire Central Asian region, Russia is prepared to cooperate with all parties, he said.

    "However, we don't want this region to be viewed as somebody's area of influence," he said. He said that all parties should pursue their policies on the region as transparently as possible.

    Commenting on Russia's position on Iran, Lavrov pointed out that Russian-Iranian relations "are developing dynamically."

    "Iran is our neighbour and a country that can play an important role in the settlement of regional problems, including in Afghanistan, Iraq and in the Middle East settlement," the Itar-Tass news agency quoted Lavrov as saying.

    "We are jointly working on the problems that the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) raises on Iran's nuclear program," he said.