The setback does not bode well for near-term progress on U.S.-Russia disarmament.

“If we want to stop the war in Syria, then we have to stop the flow of arms to the different groups in conflict," Father Prakash said.

Once over money and territory, violence in the country has taken a more destructive turn.

Hundreds of Rohingya were killed and tens of thousands forced to flee their homes in 2012 unrest in Rakhine state, and many continue to be confined to squalid camps there.

Deploring a campaign of extrajudicial killings that has, according to local media, claimed more than 800 lives, the president of the Philippines bishops' conference issued a direct challenge to President Rodrigo Duterte and his supporters.

The first visit by a sitting U.S. president is a reminder of the horrors of nuclear warfare.