Russia's new Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has pledged his best efforts to seek a peaceful resolution to North Korea's nuclear standoff.

In his first news conference since taking office, Lavrov said Wednesday that it is significant that the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia agreed to resume nuclear talks some time in the middle of this year.

Asked whether President Roh Moo-hyun's impeachment would have negative effects on the nuclear talks, Lavrov replied that the six-party discussions would continue as scheduled.

He added that he has talked with his South Korean counterpart, Ban Ki-moon, over the phone on Sunday and agreed to meet around the end of next month to discuss preparations for the six-way nuclear talks.