By Andrius Sytas

VILNIUS, May 14 (Reuters) - The United States is pressing Lithuania to allow Belarus to use its main port to ship fertiliser exports, currently subject to EU sanctions, the Baltic nation's foreign minister said on Thursday.

Asked whether the U.S. is pressuring Vilnius to resume the exports, foreign minister Kestutis Budrys said: "The situation is changing... I have always said that there is no such activity, but today I can say that yes, additional activity has appeared, from the U.S."

However, Budrys told reporters that Lithuania backs EU sanctions on Belarusian potash and would not discuss resuming exports while they remain in force.

The U.S. embassy in Vilnius did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Lithuania in 2022 halted all exports by Belaruskali, the world's second-largest producer of the crop fertiliser, after the state-run company was sanctioned by the U.S. in response to a crackdown that followed a disputed presidential election in which President Alexander Lukashenko declared a victory.

Belarus used Lithuania's Klaipeda port to export potash, a big cash earner for the landlocked country, to customers which include India, China and Brazil.

The European Union also sanctioned Belarusian potash in 2022, in response to the country helping Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. sanctions were removed in March, as Belarus released ​250 prisoners in a deal brokered by the ​United States. The European sanctions are valid until February 2027 and can be extended.

U.S. President Donald Trump's Belarus envoy John Coale told Lithuanian national broadcaster LRT in March the resumption of potash exports through Lithuania would be beneficial to the United States.