US Senator Bernie Sanders said that the Saudi Arabian government must be responsible for stability in the Middle East and should send its own military to fight ISIL rather than demand that the United States undertake such actions.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Saudi Arabian government must be responsible for stability in the Middle East and should send its own military to fight the Islamic State (ISIL) rather than demand that the United States undertake such actions, US Senator Bernie Sanders said in a statement.

“I find it remarkable that Saudi Arabia, which borders Iraq and is controlled by a multi-billion dollar family, is demanding that US combat troops have ‘boots on the ground’ against ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham].” Sanders said on Friday. “Where are the Saudi troops?”

Sanders explained that Saudi Arabia, which has the third largest military budget in the world and an army much larger than that of the ISIL, must accept “full responsibility for stability in their own region of the world.”

Sanders urged the anti-ISIL Muslim nations to lead the fight “for the soul of Islam,” and said that Western nations, including the United States, should be supportive of such efforts.

During a meeting with the US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday, the Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, said that the US-led coalition against the ISIL should have "boots on the ground" to attack terrorists’ positions.

The ISIL militant group controls large areas of Syria and Iraq and declared an Islamic caliphate on the territories that had fallen under its control. It is infamous for numerous abductions and brutal killings.