U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he does not remember much about a meeting last year with a former campaign aide who pleaded guilty last month as part of a federal probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

Asked about a meeting in which aide George Papadopoulos suggested arranging a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump told reporters: "I don't remember much about that meeting. It was a very unimportant meeting."

According to court documents filed by special counsel Robert Mueller, Papadopoulos said at the meeting of foreign policy advisers in March 2016 "that he had connections that could help arrange a meeting between then-candidate Trump and President Putin."