I probably would start ♦K and try a ♥ to Q (towards close hand). If Q wins I try if spades split. If spades are 4-1 it is kinda long for my energy at this moment to type all of it. Not sure if this is the right line though but that's what I would do at the table in limited time.
And here again we run up against the rewriting of history to fit a conspiracy storyline, a popular pastime. You might consider going back and re-reading the links you yourself posted here: The truth is that the developed world was almost universally behind the Yeltsin regime at that time. In retrospect it is perhaps politically expedient to distance oneself from that position but the West was at that time basically desperate to prop up a government seen as the most reformist since the creation of the USSR. Clinton's pushing for the loan to go through quickly was illustrative of the general feeling internationally. To try to link it to blackmail without any evidence whatsoever would be laughable if it was not such a sad example of the way conspiracy theorists think. And sadly this is not your first example of such thinking.
Whether there was an infraction or not, playing the ace is not beyond careless, thus not a SEWoG. There was an infraction, though, the explanation wasn't right. But I don't see how that influenced either the auction or the line of play, so no rectification.
The usage is perfectly valid. None can mean 'not one' and take a singular verb; it can also mean 'not any' and take a plural verb. Which one you use is solely down to what you think sounds more natural (and in this case, 'are' sounds much better to me). http://www.onlinegrammar.com.au/top-10-grammar-myths-none-always-takes-a-singular-verb/
Couldn't have a more perfect hand to bid 2NT as Unusual NT. It's perhaps at the lower end red vs. white with a passed partner, but South has passed too, so it's the most descriptive bid by far. You'd be very unlucky to find partner with zilch and a bad fit.