Expectation of further sanctions comes as MoD announces 1,350 British troops are in Poland to take part in Nato exercise

Russia could be hit with European Union sanctions on its banking, defence and hi-tech energy sectors within days over its role in the Malaysia Airlines disaster, Downing Street has signalled.

David Cameron's spokeswoman said there was "broad consensus" that sanctions should be applied on these areas of the Russian economy but there was debate about whether to restrict this action to future, rather than existing, contracts.

She indicated that Downing Street was hopeful an agreement would be reached on tougher sanctions when European Union ambassadors meet to discuss the issue on Tuesday morning. So far, Brussels has only agreed to impose asset freezes and travel bans on individuals and firms linked to the Kremlin, stopping short of wider sanctions on industries used by the US.

The move came on the same day that Britain stepped up its show of support in the face of Russian aggression by sending more than 1,000 soldiers to Poland to take part in a major military exercise.

Speaking in Warsaw, the new defence secretary, Michael Fallon, said a "full battle group" of 1,350 personnel and more than 350 military vehicles would take part in "exercise Black Eagle in October.

On sanctions, the EU is looking likely to match America's actions after agreement among western nations that Russia supplied Soviet-era Buk missiles to separatist rebels in Ukraine that shot down flight MH17.

"There are two areas that we continue to press for strong action," the Downing Street spokeswoman said. "One on the so-called tier-three sanctions covering sectoral areas; there will be further discussion by officials today ahead of that meeting of ambassadors tomorrow.

"And then to look at possible listings to cover those with influence on the Russian regime. The criteria have now been expanded to allow for travel bans and asset freezes to be imposed on individuals who are seen to be influencers on the Russian regime, Putin's inner circle of advisers, and we are certainly doing work to make the case for a number of individuals who should be sanctioned under those new criteria.

"The focus in Brussels today and tomorrow is agreeing tier-three measures. It can be done by written procedures. Ambassadors could agree it tomorrow and then it could formally go through without the need for any meeting. We are certainly pushing for ambassadors to agree this.

"Our focus is on securing agreement tomorrow so that these measures can come into force as swiftly as possible."

She said it was possible sanctions could be applied within 24 to 48 hours of any agreement on Tuesday, but it could take longer.

Echoing George Osborne's warning about the impact on UK financial services, the No 10 aide said there would be "the possibility of some pain to be felt here in the UK in terms of these measures but you have to look much more broadly at the wider crisis and the fact that you've had a passenger airline shot out of the sky with 298 people losing their lives.

"There are three areas where we are pushing but there is broad consensus there should be action in these areas. They are the financial sector, the defence sector and the hi-tech energy sector," she said.

Asked if the energy sanctions would cover oil and gas, she said they would be "focused on hi-tech, newer technologies rather than those broader existing sectors".

Before the meeting, Russia said it would not retaliate with sanctions of its own or "fall into hysterics". Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, said the penalties could even make the country "more independent and more confident in our own strength".

"I assure you, we will overcome any difficulties that may arise in certain areas of the economy," he said. "We can't ignore it. But to fall into hysterics and respond to a blow with a blow is not worthy of a major country."

He also denied Russian involvement in the Ukraine conflict and called for "honest, open participation of all those who have access to information about the crash".

"Anything else we will consider as deceitful attempts to influence the investigation, putting presumption of innocence in doubt," he said. "I don't want to throw accusations in advance, but I expect that no one will try to cover up evidence."

The UK has been pushing for tougher sanctions on Russia for some time, along with eastern European countries with closer borders to Russia.

In an article for the Sunday Times last week, Cameron hinted that other nations in Europe had been less willing to consider sanctions that could hit their own economies. There has been particular tension over whether France will be able to deliver an order of military helicopters to Russia and Germany has been worried about its reliance on imports of Russian gas.

Defence secretary Fallon was visiting Poland with Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, when he made the announcement about Britain's largest deployment to the region since 2008. The show of military strength is part of a series of Nato manoeuvres throughout the autumn that have been planned to support the UK's allies in eastern Europe and the Baltic states.

The Ministry of Defence said the UK had also sent RAF Typhoon jets to the Nato Baltic Air Policing mission and taken part in smaller-scale army exercises across Europe since Russia annexed Crimea.

Fallon said: "It is right that Nato members and partners demonstrate our commitment to the collective security of our allies in eastern Europe, so I am pleased to confirm our participation in these exercises.

"In particular, the commitment of a battle group to exercise Black Eagle shows our sustained and substantial support to Nato's eastern border."

The deployment comes on top of troops from 1st Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment being sent to take part in exercise Sabre Junction in Poland at the end of August. A Nato summit will be held in Wales in October.

Fallon added: "We have a strong opportunity at the Nato summit to discuss how we will continue our response to Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and its destabilisation of eastern Ukraine. The UK is playing a central role and we are not ruling out further enhancements."