Just listened to Putin's speech. Seemed quite reasonable to me. No declaration of war like some chickenhawks are claiming in twitter. Went into detail about past injustices against Russia by NATO, and how the current regime in Ukraine is Russophobic and sympathetic to Nazis (both true).
Basically he said if Ukraine wants to treat us as an enemy, we'll act like one. Recognition means the Minsk agreement is dead.
Recognition or not, it is up to Ukraine whether they want war. If they go ahead with the plan to retake Donbass, Russia gets involved.