From left, face masks depicting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, hang among others for sale at a street souvenir shop in St. Petersburg, Russia, Jan. 20. Yonhap

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he had not discussed Moscow's purchase of weapons from North Korea during his recent phone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid continuing concerns about a deepening military alignment between Pyongyang and Moscow.

"Not about specifically that. No," Trump said during a press availability at the White House.

In the midst of the protracted war in Ukraine, North Korea has supported Russia through troop deployments and supplies of munitions and ballistic missiles, raising concerns that such military support could further prolong the war with security implications for both Europe and the Indo-Pacific.

Asked about what an important issue is regarding the war in Ukraine, Trump said he is making "all issues" important, pointing to a matteers, including Ukrainian children held in Russia and human losses on the battleground. (Yonhap)