By Andrei Makhovsky

MINSK, April 4 (Reuters) - Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday he hoped ties with the United States, beset by a row over sanctions and human rights, could soon be improved.

Lukashenko, accused in the West of crushing fundamental rights, was speaking to Vietnamese media ahead of a visit in the next few days.

"I believe relations with the United States will soon be normalised and chances are good for normalised relations with the European Union," BELTA news agency quoted him as saying.

Ex-Soviet Belarus asked Washington this week for a new staffing cut of more than 50 percent at its Minsk embassy, following the departure of its ambassador at the urging of the authorities. The embassy is to provide an answer by next Monday.

The embassy said staff reductions had obliged it for a second time to suspend the issuing of visas for Belarussians.

"As you are aware, only last week, our embassy reduced the number of American staff by half," it said in a statement. "We consider these demands by the Belarussian government to be unwarranted and unjustified."

The U.S. ambassador left Belarus last month and the reduction is the second demanded by Minsk, which wants sanctions against Belarus dropped -- mainly measures against national oil products firm Belneftekhim.

Washington last year froze the U.S. accounts of Belneftekhim, which earns about a third of foreign currency revenues in Belarus, and barred Americans from dealings with it.

It says a resumption of dialogue depends largely on Belarus releasing its most prominent detainee, Alexander Kozulin, who ran against Lukashenko in a 2006 election and helped stage protests against his landslide victory.

Belarus has in recent months sought better ties with the European Union after quarrelling with Russia over energy prices. But security forces last week broke up an opposition rally and courts jailed or fined dozens of activists, prompting fresh EU criticism.

Lukashenko's foreign visits are limited by an entry bar imposed by the United States and European Union over allegations that he rigged his 2006 re-election.

He wants to forge an alliance of countries countering U.S. influence and cultivates ties with Iran, Venezuela and China.

In his comments, Lukashenko predicted U.S. measures to put pressure on his country would fail.

"They are trying to corner us with sanctions. The Americans have tried to pressure us," BELTA quoted him as saying. "These attempts are all in vain. We will find markets for our goods." (Reporting by Andrei Makhovsky, Writing by Ron Popeski; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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