Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas torpedoed the last “peace talks” with Israel by forming a unity partnership with Hamas, and is currently pursuing a unilateral International Criminal Court (ICC) lawsuit against Israel in breach of the 1993 Oslo Accords that formed his PA.

But according to Abbas he will work to revive the talks with Israel, in statements made on Tuesday during a visit to Stockholm in Sweden, reports The Associated Press.

During his Swedish press conference Abbas avoided questions about how to end the conflict with Israel or curb the terrorism of his unity partner Hamas – Abbas is himself head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Fatah terrorist organizations, and Fatah took part in Hamas’s latest terror war.

Abbas’s term in elected office ended in January, 2009, but poking at his rival “unity partner” Hamas that ousted Fatah from Gaza in 2005, Abbas said the Palestinian Arabs must be able to pick “who should lead them and if they accept violence or not.”

This is Abbas’s first visit to Sweden since 2009, and comes three months after Sweden became the first European Union (EU) member to recognize the PA as the “state of Palestine.”

Abbas thanked Sweden for the gesture, which has plummeted Israeli relations with Sweden to an all-time low.

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom previously said that she would use Abbas’s visit to “prepare for a revived peace process.” 

Last month, Wallstrom announced she was indefinitely postponing a planned trip to Israel; Israel responded that Wallstrom was not welcome for an official visit in the country.