Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia
On 20 November 1991 Lord Carrington asked: "Can the internal boundaries between Croatia and Serbia and between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia be regarded as frontiers in terms of public international law?" Applying the principle of "uti possidetis juris", the commission concluded on 11 January 1992, "The boundaries between Croatia and Serbia, between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, and possibly other adjacent independent states may not be altered except by agreement freely arrived at... Except where otherwise agreed, the former boundaries become frontiers protected by international law".
Siege of Dubrovnik
On 7 December 1991, another ceasefire was agreed and the JNA force besieging Dubrovnik became largely inactive. In January 1992, the Sarajevo Agreement was signed by representatives of Croatia, the JNA and the UN, and fighting was paused. The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) was deployed to Croatia to supervise and maintain the agreement. Serbia continued to support the RSK. The conflict largely passed onto entrenched positions and the JNA soon retreated from Croatia into Bosnia and Herzegovina, where a new conflict was anticipated. The only exception was the Dubrovnik area, where the JNA attacked westward from Dubrovačko Primorje, pushing back elements of the HV's 114th and 116th Infantry Brigades and reaching the outskirts of Ston by the beginning of 1992.