President-elect Viktor F. Yanukovich of Ukraine, who tried during the campaign to shed his reputation as an obedient Kremlin ally, intends to make his first foreign trip after taking office to Brussels, not Moscow, officials said on Tuesday. Yanukovich, whose inauguration is on Thursday, is scheduled to visit the headquarters of the European Union next Monday for meetings with senior officials. He is to hold talks with the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy; the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso; and others. Later in the week, he is likely to go to Moscow to see President Dmitri A. Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin. Yanukovich's decision to travel to Brussels seems intended to send a message to the country that he is serious about bolstering relations with Europe and that he will not be beholden to Russia. It may also help in his effort to appeal to voters who supported his opponent, Prime Minister Yulia V. Tymoshenko. Tymoshenko's base is in western Ukraine, where people tend to yearn for closer ties to Europe and reject Russian influence. Yanukovich won the Feb. 7 election by 3.5 percentage points by rolling up large margins in eastern Ukraine, which is more oriented toward Moscow. The Kremlin offered no reaction on Tuesday to Yanukovich's decision to go to Brussels first. Under the departing Ukrainian president, Viktor A. Yushchenko, relations with Russia were very tense, and Russian officials seem pleased about just not having to deal with him. Tymoshenko, who dropped her legal challenge over the election on Saturday, is refusing to step down as prime minister, and Yanukovich is seeking to assemble a coalition in Parliament to dismiss her. His move to woo the West may improve his chances of garnering support from deputies who may otherwise vote for her. Europe has long been worried about political instability in Ukraine, which has a large manufacturing economy and serves as a conduit for Russian natural gas. In an opinion article in The Wall Street Journal last week, Yanukovich wrote that he wanted Ukraine to be a bridge between Russia and the West. 'A Yanukovich presidency is committed to the integration of European values in Ukraine,' he said, later adding, 'We are a nation with a European identity, but we have historic, cultural and economic ties to Russia as well.' 