Boris Johnson has been blasted by the German government for having a "unique relationship with the truth".
The ex-PM sparked a diplomatic spat after he claimed Berlin favoured a swift victory for Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.
Mr Johnson said Germany wanted Volodymyr Zelensky to “fold” quickly, rather than have a lengthy war, for "all sorts of sound economic reasons".
But Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed this as “utter nonsense”.
"We know that the very entertaining former prime minister always has a unique relationship with the truth,” his spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said. “This case is no exception."
Mr Hebestreit said Berlin had swiftly decided to send arms to Ukraine after Moscow launched its invasion, adding that the "facts speak against (Mr Johnson's) claims".
Speaking at an event in Lisbon, Mr Johnson earlier told CNN: "The Germans, for all sorts of sound economic reasons, really didn't want it to... I'll tell you a terrible thing - the German view was at one stage that if it were going to happen, which would be a disaster, then it would be better for the whole thing to be over quickly and for Ukraine to fold.
"I couldn't support that. I thought that was a disastrous way of looking at it, but I could understand why they thought and felt as they did."
The ex-PM also said France was in denial "right up until the last moment" when Russian forces crossed the border.
"This thing was a huge shock. We could see the Russian battalion tactical groups amassing but different countries had very different perspectives," he said.
"Be in no doubt that the French were in denial right up until the last moment."
Asked in the interview with the US broadcaster if he could make a return to Downing Street, Mr Johnson said: “I’ve always said for about 20 years that my chances of becoming PM were about as good as my chances of becoming decapitated by a frisbee, or blinded by a champagne cork or locked in a disused fridge… I then did become PM so my chances of becoming PM again I think are those impossibilia cubed or squared.”
Criticising Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-Budget, Mr Johnson said: “It’s kind of like when I play the piano, right.
“The notes individually sound perfectly OK, but they’re not in the right order or occurring at the right time. That might be my comment on some of the measures in that.”
