Donald Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen has been called to appear before the committee who are investigating allegations that Russia meddled with the US election.

Mr Cohen was issued a subpoena by the panel to provide information and testimony about contacts he had with Russian officials as part of an ongoing probe into alleged ties between the Trump presidential campaign and the Kremlin.

A congressional aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that Mr Cohen had received the notice to appear from the US House Intelligence Committee.

Mr Cohen, a long-time attorney for the Trump Organisation and a personal lawyer for Mr Trump, told ABC News he has turned down invitations to appear from both the House Committee, and a separate Senate Committee.

The summons for Mr Cohen to assist in the high profile investigation comes just weeks after Trump's former security adviser Michael Flynn was also subpoenaed as part of the probe.

It also follows reports that emerged in The New York Times earlier this year suggesting Mr Cohen had ties with Russian interests.

According to claims made in the paper Mr Cohen helped broker a Ukraine peace deal which called on Russian troops to withdraw from the country and let Ukrainians decide whether the part of the country seized by Russia in 2014 should be leased to Moscow - a plan the Russian government denied knowing anything about.

The subpoena also comes just days after it was reported in the US media that Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner had discussed the possibility of setting up a secret line of communication with Russia during a meeting with the country's ambassador to Washington in December.