Russian state media and allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin took a victory lap after US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance's heated conversation with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.

Deputy head of Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, also a former Russian President, wrote on Telegram that US President Donald Trump had given Ukraine a "strong slap on the wrist".

"For the first time, Trump told the cocaine clown the truth to his face: the Kyiv regime is playing with the third world war. And the ungrateful pig received a strong slap on the wrist from the owners of the pigsty. This is useful. But it's not enough - we must stop military aid to the Nazi machine," Medvedev said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it was a miracle that Trump and Vice-President JD Vance managed to restrain themselves from hitting Zelensky.

"I think Zelensky's biggest lie of all his lies was his assertion in the White House that the Kyiv regime in 2022 was alone, without support," she wrote on Telegram.

Hungary's Russia-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that Trump stood "bravely for peace. Even if it was difficult for many to digest."

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday vowed "unwavering support" for Ukraine and spoke to both US President Donald Trump and Ukraine counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky following their angry White House meeting. "The prime minister has tonight spoken to both President Trump and President Zelensky. He retains unwavering support for Ukraine, and is doing all he can to find a path forward to a lasting peace based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine," said a spokeswoman for Starmer's Downing Street office.

Hours after US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused Volodymyr Zelensky of not being "thankful", the Ukrainian President took to social media to personally thank every world leader who expressed solidarity with his country. His response follows a heated meeting at the White House with Trump and Vance, which ended in a tense standoff.

Following the exchange, European leaders issued statements in support of Kyiv. In response, Zelensky systematically expressed gratitude to each of them.

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Before it erupted volcanically at their Oval Office meeting, the hostility between Presidents Donald Trump of the US and Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine had been simmering since at least 2019 when Trump faced his first impeachment.

Trump had asked Zelensky in a July 2019 phone call to investigate former President Joe Biden, who was the Democratic Party front-runner against him in the 2020 election, and his son Hunter for possible corruption. He had withheld about $400 million in aid to Ukraine in the days before the call, although he released it later.

Trump's allegations centred on Hunter Biden, who had no experience in the energy field, becoming a director of a Ukrainian gas company, Burisma, while his father as Vice-President was dealing with Ukraine. He also alleged that Biden had gotten a prosecutor investigating Burisma fired.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau echoed that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was illegal and unjustifiable.

The fiery altercation between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House was shocking but not entirely unexpected, analysts said, with the way forward for Kyiv looking increasingly uncertain.

Trump has refused to say if he would provide any security guarantees for peace, insisting Putin "respects" him enough not to break any deal.

Brian Finucane, a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group (ICG), said Friday's meeting was always likely to be tense. "The performance by the President and Vice President in the Oval Office was unprecedented, but not altogether surprising given President Trump's well-known feelings about US military support to Ukraine and the narrative about Russia's war on Ukraine which he has promoted," he said.

When asked, Trump and those in his administration have repeatedly refused to place responsibility on Moscow for starting the war.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Friday for Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky to apologise for an earlier clash with President Donald Trump.

Zelensky should "apologise for wasting our time for a meeting that was going to end the way it did," Rubio said on CNN after Oval Office talks devolved into argument and raised voices. 

Volodymyr Zelensky said that his relations with the United States can still be repaired after President Donald Trump shouted at him in an angry White House meltdown accusing the Ukrainian leader of refusing to make peace with Russia.

"Of course," Zelensky said when asked in a Fox News interview if the relationship with Trump could be salvaged.

US-Ukrainian ties are about "more than two presidents," he said, adding that Ukraine badly needs Washington's help in the fight against Russia's far bigger and better-armed military. "It will be difficult without your support," Zelensky said on Fox -- Trump's favorite news channel.

Zelensky refused to apologise, telling Fox News, "I'm not sure that we did something bad." He did, however, say he wished the exchange had not taken place in front of reporters.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his country will "stand with Ukraine" for as long as needed, hours after talks between US President Donald Trump and the Ukrainian leader broke down in acrimony.

Following the row, Albanese said Australia would "stand with Ukraine". "The people of Ukraine are fighting not just for their own national sovereignty, they are fighting for the international rule of law," he told reporters in Sydney.

"We will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes because this is the struggle of a democratic nation versus an authoritarian regime led by Vladimir Putin, who clearly has imperialistic designs not just on Ukraine but throughout that region."