Jewish protesters have stormed Trump Tower in the city of New York, demanding the release of a pro-Palestinian activist arrested by immigration officials.

At least 150 people poured into the building’s lobby in midtown Manhattan to demonstrate against the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, who led Columbia University protests in 2024 against Israel’s war in Gaza.

The group from Jewish Voice for Peace carried banners, wore red shirts reading “Jews say stop arming Israel” and chanted “Bring Mahmoud home now!”

Local police said 98 were arrested on charges including trespassing, obstruction and resisting arrest.

Donald Trump previously described Mr Khalil, 30, who has lawful permanent resident status in the US, as “anti-American”. He is married to an American citizen.

The postgraduate student, from Columbia University’s school of international and public affairs, has been a prominent figure in the university’s pro-Palestinian student protest movement.

This week, his deportation was put on hold while his lawyers challenged his detention at an immigration detention centre in Louisiana. On Saturday, he was arrested outside his university residence in Upper Manhattan.

He has not been charged with a crime.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio has claimed he has reasonable grounds to believe Mr Khalil’s activities or presence in the country could have “serious adverse foreign policy consequences”.

On Thursday, Mr Khalil’s lawyers asked a federal judge to release him from immigration detention.

They argued that President Trump’s administration targeted him for deportation because of his activism, and his detention is a violation of the US Constitution’s First Amendment protections for freedom of speech.

Separately, his lawyers asked the court to block Columbia University from sharing student disciplinary records from campus protests with a Republican-led US House of Representatives committee.

Mr Khalil’s case has become a flashpoint for Mr Trump’s pledge to deport some activists who participated in the wave of protests on US college campuses against Israel’s military assault on Gaza following the October 2023 attack by the militant group Hamas.

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Mr Trump’s administration has said pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, including at Columbia, have included support for Hamas and antisemitic harassment of Jewish students.

Last week, the administration said it cancelled grants and contracts worth about $400m (£309m) to Columbia because of what it describes as antisemitic harassment on and near the school’s campus.

Student protest organisers have said criticism of Israel and its actions is being wrongly conflated with antisemitism.

Vladimir Putin has said Russia agrees to an end to fighting in Ukraine, but “lots of questions” remain over proposals for a 30-day ceasefire.

Casting doubt over whether a deal can be agreed, the Russian president said a ceasefire must lead to “long-term peace” which “would remove the initial reasons for the crisis”.

Russia has previously said it would not accept Ukraine joining NATO and European peacekeepers in Ukraine.

Moscow has reportedly also presented a “list of demands” to the US to end the war, which would include international recognition of Russia’s claim to Crimea and four Ukrainian provinces.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Mr Putin’s remarks were “very predictable” and “very manipulative”, adding that the Russian president was preparing to reject the ceasefire proposal he agreed with the US.

Mr Putin’s comments came as Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow ahead of talks over Ukraine with the Russian president.

Ukraine war latest updates

Speaking on Thursday afternoon, Mr Putin described the situation in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have pushed into Moscow’s territory, as “completely under our control”.

It appeared the US had persuaded Ukraine to accept the ceasefire, he said, but Ukraine is also interested because of the battlefield situation, with its forces in Kursk fully blocked in the coming days.

“In these conditions, I believe it would be good for the Ukrainian side to secure a ceasefire for at least 30 days,” he said.

He also said there would need to be a mechanism to control possible breaches of the truce.

Another issue he raised was whether Ukraine could use the 30-day ceasefire to continue to mobilise and rearm.

He said he would need to speak to Mr Trump over the terms of any ceasefire.

Mr Putin was speaking alongside Belarus’s President Alexander Lukashenko and the pair said in a joint statement that NATO’s actions regarding the war in Ukraine were fraught with the risk of nuclear conflict.

The two countries also criticised the European Union’s policy towards Russia, labelling it aggressive and confrontational.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 has left thousands of people dead and injured, millions displaced and towns and cities reduced to rubble.

Moscow’s forces have been advancing since the middle of last year and now control nearly a fifth of Ukraine’s territory.

In his speech Mr Putin said Russian forces were pushing forwards along the entire frontline.

Responding to the comments, Mr Zelenskyy said: “Putin, of course, is afraid to say directly to President Trump that he wants to continue this war, he wants to kill Ukrainians.”

He said Mr Putin’s words were “just another Russian manipulation”.

Mr Trump also responded to the remarks, saying Mr Putin’s statement was not complete and reiterated his willingness to talk to the Russian president, adding: “Hopefully Russia will do the right thing.”

In a news conference with NATO secretary general Mark Rutte, the US president shifted his tone on the alliance, saying it was “stepping up” and praising Mr Rutte for doing “some really good work”.

Mr Rutte said NATO members needed to produce more weapons, stating the alliance was not doing enough and was lagging behind Russia and China.

It comes after Mr Putin donned a camouflage uniform to visit a command post in the Kursk region on Wednesday.