Pope Francis received at the Vatican the highest-ranking U.S. military leader, General Mark A. Milley, known for speaking out in favor of a negotiating table to end the war in Ukraine. President Joe Biden's top military adviser, a practicing Catholic, was among other things skeptical about the possibility of a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive in the short term, while at the same time favoring limiting the type of offensive weapons to be delivered to the Kiev government. At the end of September, however, his term will end and he will be replaced by Charles Brown, the current head of the Us Air Force. Of course, the war in Ukraine (and also Africa) was discussed. The Pontiff, the general said after the audience, is "very concerned about the hundreds of thousands of people who have been killed and wounded and the lives of innocent civilians that have been lost and was very interested in hearing my views on the state of the war".