Moscow, Russia - Russia said Saturday that Volodymyr Zelensky's trip to the US had been a "failure," after President Donald Trump berated his Ukrainian counterpart in a stunning televised confrontation.

Zelensky planned to sign a minerals deal with the US during the visit, but it ended in disaster when Trump and Vice President JD Vance accused the Ukrainian leader of being "disrespectful" and pilloried him in front of the media.

Kyiv had hoped the agreement would pave the way for security guarantees from Washington, as it fights the full-scale offensive Russia launched in 2022.

"The visit of the head of the neo-Nazi regime, V. Zelensky, to Washington on February 28 is a complete political and diplomatic failure of the Kyiv regime," Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement, adding to the widespread glee among Moscow's political elites.

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Moscow often accuses Ukraine of harboring neo-Nazis and used that as a pretext to start its Ukraine offensive, an accusation that Western leaders and Kyiv call false and absurd.

"With his outrageously boorish behavior during his stay in Washington, Zelensky confirmed that he is the most dangerous threat to the world community as an irresponsible warmonger," Zakharova said.

Accusing Zelensky of being "obsessed" with continuing the fighting, she added that Russia's military goals in Ukraine were "unchanging."

Moscow has been gaining ground on the battlefield for over a year, pressing their advantage against Ukraine's overstretched and outgunned army.