U.S. Vice-President-elect Mike Pence has confirmed that Mitt Romney is being considered for the post of secretary of state, among others, according to BBC News.

The statement, in a Fox News interview, comes after President-elect Donald Trump met Romney, a Republican who criticised him during the campaign.

There has been speculation that the post of top diplomat was discussed.

Neither man gave details of their meeting on Saturday, November 19. Romney said talks had been "far-reaching".

Romney, who ran an unsuccessful campaign against Barack Obama in 2012, met Trump at the president-elect's golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.

"It was a warm and a substantive exchange and I know he is under active consideration to be secretary of state (...) along with some other distinguished Americans," Pence told the Fox News Sunday programme.

In March, during the Republican primary race, Romney said Trump had neither "the temperament nor the judgement to be president", accusing him of bullying, misogyny and dishonesty.

"Prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished" if Trump became the nominee, he said.

Trump responded by mocking Romney, calling him a "failed candidate" and a "choke artist".

However, U.S. media have suggested that the role of secretary of state could be up for grabs. In the past, Romney has taken a far more critical line on Russia than that suggested by Trump, BBC News said.

Trump has settled several posts so far, a number of them controversial.