Japan lodged a protest with Russia after President Vladimir Putin sent a video message to celebrate the opening of a new seafood-processing factory on disputed Shikotan Island, a government official said Friday.

Putin's message, sent shortly before he met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Vladivostok on Thursday to discuss a peace treaty to officially end World War II, was seen as flaunting Russia's control of the island, which Japan claims along with three others off Hokkaido.

The head of the Foreign Ministry's Russia Division, Tetsuji Miyamoto, on Thursday told a counselor at the Russian Embassy in Tokyo by phone that the move is "incompatible with Japan's stance," according to the official.