Russian oligarch's cousin paid Trump lawyer $662,750 after meeting 11 days before inauguration

Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, met with a Russian oligarch and discussed US-Russia relations just 11 days before Trump was inaugurated as president.

That's according to a person familiar with the meeting held at Trump Tower in New York who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the meeting publicly.

This person said the oligarch, billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, met with Cohen for about 20 minutes in Cohen's office.

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The two men were joined by Andrew Intrater, Mr Vekselberg's American cousin, who heads a New York private equity firm that manages his financial assets.

Soon after the inauguration, Intrater's firm, Columbus Nova, paid Cohen US$500,000 (A$ 662,750) for consulting work.

Mr Vekselberg was targeted in April with US Treasury Department sanctions, citing his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.