Gorbachev died in Moscow on Tuesday at the age of 91 after suffering a long illness.
"Mikhail Gorbachev was a man of remarkable vision. When he came to power, the Cold War had gone on for nearly 40 years and communism for even longer, with devastating consequences. Few high-level Soviet officials had the courage to admit that things needed to change. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I saw him do that and more," Biden said in a statement.
"As leader of the USSR, he worked with President Reagan to reduce our two countries’ nuclear arsenals, to the relief of people worldwide praying for an end to the nuclear arms race. After decades of brutal political repression, he embraced democratic reforms. He believed in glasnost and perestroika – openness and restructuring – not as mere slogans, but as the path forward for the people of the Soviet Union," he said.
Biden said these were the acts of a rare leader who could see that a different future was possible.
"The result was a safer world and greater freedom for millions of people," he said.
"We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends, and to people everywhere who benefited from his belief in a better world," Biden said.