With his swearing in as Ukraine's president, the delicate balancing act has begun for Viktor Yushchenko.
He is a westward-looking leader who emphasises a separate Ukrainian identity and pledges to seek full European Union membership for his young country. But he cannot afford to turn his back on Russia, which is still Ukraine's biggest trading partner.
He was swept into office on promises of ending corruption and improving livelihoods, and now he has to meet the expectations he helped to raise.
There are worries in the Russian-speaking east of Ukraine, where voters largely supported Mr Yushchenko's opponent, that the new president's emphasis on Ukrainian nationalism will be to their detriment. He has to act swiftly to ease these fears and to unite a country deeply divided by the bitter, months-long and contested election that brought him to power. Even though Mr Yushchenko won by a comfortable margin, he now has to convince the 40-plus per cent of voters who stood behind his challenger that he will also act in their interests.
None of this could negate the scenes of jubilation that greeted Mr Yushchenko on the streets of Kiev yesterday, or the hopeful atmosphere in parliament, where he was sworn in before dozens of foreign dignitaries. The Orange Revolution that saw hundreds of thousands peacefully protest against the flawed November election and led to a new, fairer poll, was a victory for the Ukrainian people and for peaceful political change.
The first order of business will be patching up ties with the Kremlin, which staunchly supported Viktor Yanukovych, the former prime minister. Congratulations did not come from Russia until the past week, when Mr Yanukovych exhausted his legal appeals against the election results. Mr Yushchenko visits Russia today before a tour of Europe that will include a speech before the EU parliament.