'Erdogan involved in IS oil trade'

Russia yesterday accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family of involvement in illegal oil trading with Islamic State jihadists, ratcheting up the heat in a dispute over Ankara's downing of one of Moscow's warplanes.

The inflammatory allegations -- the latest in a ferocious war of words -- came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had agreed to meet his Turkish counterpart for the first high-level face-to-face talks since the incident last week.

President Vladimir Putin has already accused Ankara of downing the jet to protect the oil supply lines to Turkish territory. But the defence ministry accusations against Erdogan are the first implicating the Turkish strongman directly, as the Kremlin refuses to let the pressure drop after slapping economic sanctions on Ankara.

"The main consumer of this oil stolen from its legitimate owners Syria and Iraq is Turkey," deputy defence minister Anatoly Antonov told journalists at a packed briefing. "According to available information, the highest level of the political leadership of the country, president Erdogan and his family, are involved in this criminal business."

Erdogan had dismissed earlier Russian claims insisting he would resign if allegations were proved true.

Nato yesterday invited Montenegro to become the 29th member of the US-led military alliance.

Russia quickly said it would be forced to react to Nato's expansion eastward, with the invitation to the small Balkan country adding to bad blood between Moscow and the West over a host of issues including Ukraine.

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said he expected Montenegro's accession talks to be completed early next year but ratification by the 28 Nato member state parliaments could take some time.