GENEVA, January 19. /TASS/. The Russian economy managed not to be broken and withstood the outside pressure after the start of the Special Military Operation, ex-head of the Bonn International Center for Conflict Studies (BICC) Herbert Wulf said.

"The Russian economy passed through the first years of war, although with certain losses, but it did not break under pressure from the outside," Wulf said in the article for Swiss newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung.

It became possible owing to "restructuring in Russia and deepening of economic cooperation with partners, primarily in China, and with many countries of Global South," the expert noted. Russia has therefore managed "to compensate the rupture of relations with the West to a significant degree," he said.

Despite the fact that the Russian economy "faced huge challenges since aggravation of the conflict with Ukraine, it "demonstrates good results," Wulf noted. "Forecasts for the Russian economy were negative," the expert stressed. "However, contrary to these expectations, the economic situation remained stable," he added.

"The effect from sanctions was limited," particularly because the European Union continues exporting Russian oil, Wulf said. Resilience to sanctions has also played an important role. Lastly, many countries simply "refused to participate in sanctions and continue trading with Russia," he added.