Donald Trump's son-in-law and close aide Jared Kushner is to be questioned over ties between the President's campaign and Russia.

The US Senate Intelligence Committee wants to interview Mr Kushner as part of its inquiry into links between Trump associates and Russian officials in the run up to November's election.

Officials are said to be keen to question Mr Kushner about meetings he arranged with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak.

They include a previously unreported sit-down with the head of Russia's state-owned development bank Vnesheconombank, which has been on a US sanctions list since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

The bank said in a statement that executives "met with representatives of leading financial institutes in Europe, Asia and America multiple times during 2016" as part of preparation for a "new strategy".


"During the talks, the existing practices of foreign development banks and promising trends were discussed", the bank said.

Meetings took place "with a number of representatives of the largest banks and business establishments of the United States, including Jared Kushner, the head of Kushner Companies", it said.

Image: Mr Kushner is married to Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka

In a statement, Senators Richard Burr and Mark Warner, the intelligence committee chairman and vice chairman, said: "Mr Kushner has volunteered to be interviewed as part of the committee's investigation into the Russian activities surrounding the 2016 election."

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The White House denies Mr Kushner did anything wrong and says he held the meetings as part of his role in the Trump transitional team.

An official said: "Throughout the campaign and transition, Jared Kushner served as the official primary point of contact with foreign governments and officials," the official said.

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Mr Kushner is married to Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka and works as a senior adviser to the President.

He is to lead a newly formed White House Office of American Innovation aimed at overhauling the federal government and possibly privatising some aspects of it.

Mr Kushner told the Washington Post: "The government should be run like a great American company.

"Our hope is that we can achieve successes and efficiencies for our customers, who are the citizens."

Mr Trump suffered a major setback on Friday as Congress refused to pass a healthcare bill to replace Obamacare.

The President has said he will now turn his efforts to passing a tax reform plan.