KIEV, Ukraine - Parliament scheduled a Sunday inauguration for Western-leaning President-elect Viktor Yushchenko, setting the stage for the transition to a new government for Ukraine following months of divisive political crisis.

From Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his congratulations today to Yushchenko - the man who defeated the Kremlin's favorite and who is likely to move Ukraine away from Russia's sphere of influence and toward the European Union.

"Accept my congratulations and warmest wishes in connection with your election to the post of president of Ukraine," Putin said in a statement.

"The development of good-neighborly and equal relations with Ukraine is one of the most important national priorities of Russia," he said.

Putin's comments were a sign of Russia's desire to heal the rift caused by Ukraine's political crisis, which sharply divided the former Soviet republic - broadly on pro-Russia and pro-Western lines.

Outgoing Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, a close Putin ally, also congratulated Yushchenko, according to his office. Like Putin, Kuchma, whose decade in power was marked by intimidation against the opposition and allegations of corruption and illegal trading with Iraq, had backed former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych as his choice to succeed him.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court rejected Yanukovych's appeal against the results of last month's election, saying there was insufficient evidence to support his claim that millions of citizens were deprived of their right to vote.

The steps move Ukraine toward the end of a vehement fight for the presidency that played out in the courts and the streets. Yanukovych was declared the winner of a Nov. 21 run-off, but Yushchenko's supporters claimed widespread fraud and launched weeks of massive protests in the capital.

The Supreme Court ruled that the November vote was skewed by fraud in favor of Yanukovych and cancelled it, ordering a Dec. 26 repeat of the runoff. Yushchenko was declared the winner of the December vote by a margin of about 8 percentage points, prompting an appeal by Yanukovych.

Shortly before the court rejected that appeal today, government newspapers printed the results of December's revote. That opened the way for parliament to set a date for Yushchenko's inauguration, and 309 of the chamber's 450 deputies voted in favor of holding the ceremony on Sunday.

"The inauguration is set for noon, Sunday, Jan. 23," parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn said as dozens of pro-Yushchenko deputies applauded.

At the tent village on Kiev's main street, where a core of several hundred Yushchenko supporters have been camped since late November, the publication of the results brought delight.

"I'm proud for our country, which will become a part of Europe," said 30-year-old Pavlo Levchuk.